Okay, so today I wanted to try something new, something summery—Philly water ice. I had heard a lot about it and figured, why not make some myself? I looked it up, found some basic ideas, and got to work.
Getting Started
First, I gathered everything I needed. The main things are water, sugar, and some kind of fruit. Simple enough, right? I decided to go with lemons because I love anything lemony. I grabbed a big bag of lemons from the store, some sugar, and made sure I had enough water.
Mixing Things Up
I started by making a simple syrup. I put about a cup of sugar and a cup of water in a pot and heated it up on the stove. I stirred it until all the sugar dissolved. This took a few minutes, and I made sure not to let it boil too much. While that was cooling, I started juicing the lemons. I used around 8 lemons, juiced them and put them in a bowl, by the way, I hate juicing lemons, it is so tiring!
Combining Everything
Once the simple syrup cooled down a bit, I poured it into a big container. Then, I added about three cups of cold water and the lemon juice. I gave it all a good stir. Oh, and I tasted it to make sure it was sweet enough—added a bit more sugar because, why not? This is so tiring!
Freezing Process
This is where it got a bit tricky. I poured the mixture into a shallow dish, because that’s what I read you should do. Then I put it in the freezer. After about an hour, I took it out and scraped it with a fork to break up the ice crystals. I put it back in the freezer and did this every hour for about four hours. It was a bit of a hassle, but I wanted that smooth texture. There were also some other ways to make water ice, but I do not want to buy some new machine, so I chose this tiring method to make my water ice.
Final Result
Finally, it was done! I scooped out the water ice, and it looked pretty good. It was smooth, icy, and had that perfect lemon flavor. I added a little lemon zest on top for an extra kick. It tasted amazing—refreshing and not too sweet. I can not say it is perfect but not bad at all!
Making Philly water ice was a fun experiment. It took some time and effort, especially with all the freezing and scraping. But it was totally worth it. On a hot day, this stuff is like heaven. I’m definitely going to try other flavors. Maybe next time I’ll do something with berries or even mango. If you’ve got some time and want a cool treat, give it a shot!
