Martha Stewart Living, May 2011
To suspend flowers in the cubes, work in layers: Fill an ice tray (one that makes large cubes so the ice will last longer) a quarter of the way with water, add flowers facing down, and freeze. Add more water to fill halfway, and freeze. Fill to the top, and freeze again.
For ice that's especially clear, use distilled water that has been boiled and then cooled. This limits impurities and air bubbles, which make ice cloudy.
Use only edible flowers, such as orchids, nasturtiums, pansies, and snapdragons, that have been grown to be eaten (to ensure they haven't been treated with chemicals).
Edible flowers, $22 for 40 to 50 flowers; melissas.com. King Cube silicone ice trays, $15 for 2; williams-sonoma.com.
It's a wonderful idea, it's very important to use distilled water to have the most beautiful effect. Sometimes they can be used in bowls as purely decorative items, they have a great, shiny effect.
Marla Singer
Flower delivery, Switzerland