How to make an Ice Bowl
These ice bowls are a lot of fun to make and even more fun to try and eat from...
REMEMBER: not all plants and flowers are edible. Check with an adult before using plants in your ice bowl
What you need:
Small freezer-safe bowl
Large freezer-safe bowl
Edible flowers and plants
Plants and flowers can be highly POISONOUS and DEADLY so it’s VERY important to properly check which plants and flowers are safe to use.Water
Freezer
Something heavy to place inside the small bowl (i.e. a stone or tin of food)
What to do:
Find your bowls
Insert the smaller bowl into the large one, there should be a gap of at least 1.5 cm in between them. Try a few different bowls for size and ask your parents if those bowls can be put in the freezer.Make the frozen bowl base
Pour in about 1.5 cm of water into the large bowl. Depending on the size your ice bowl will be, and the bowls you are using, you may want more or less water at the bottom.
Freeze this water creating a base for your bowl.Collect flowers
It’s important to collect flowers and plants which you know are edible because it means that the bowls will be safe to hold and play with… and you will be able to use your bowl for holding food!We collected Mint, Rosemary, Kawakawa and Nasturtiums.
Get an adult to help you to identify which plants are safe to use.Arrange and freeze overnight
Arrange the flowers on top of the frozen base and inside the bowl.
Place the smaller bowl in the centre and fill the gap between the bowls with water.
If the little bowl is floating out of place you can weigh it down with something heavy like a can of beans or a stone.
Tip 1: If you still have problems with centering it, you can use tape to keep the sides in place.
Tip 2: To get the flowers in the right place poke them with a kebab stick or a leftover flower or leaf stem.Reveal!
When you are sure the bowl is completely frozen you can start to take it out. Firstly take out the small bowl. We found ours came out easily after one or two minutes out of the freezer.
If you find your ice bowl hard to take out even after a few minutes out of the freezer, try running it under cool water …but try not to get water on the ice itself. You could also wrap your hands around the bowl to help it melt enough to slide it out.
Beware: Hot water works faster but can crack the ice and make it melt too quickly.
Serving Suggestion
Pop your bowl onto a small plate to catch the melting ice. Fill your bowl with cold ice cream or yoghurt and top with a Nasturtium or other edible flowers. Can you eat all of your food before your bowl melts?
Did you give it a go?
Send us a photo of your craft and you might find your ice bowl featured in a future issue of Upstart magazine… AND win a prize!