Mojito Icee {High Octane AND Mocktail Versions}

“Sheesh, it’s hot.” That Warner Bros. line gets so much play around here this time of year. Instead of melting into a puddle like the Abominable Snowman, how about whipping up these Mojito Icees in either the adult-high octane form (with rum) or the Mocktail (alcohol-free) version? This recipe, another brainchild of my husband, The Evil Genius, is perfect for taking your internal temperature down when the mercury is high.

I sat down to write this and started by typing, “Happy Friday!” except that it’s Wednesday. Well, then. It’s kind of hard to restart from that point. Mercifully, I have this lovely, minty, refreshing Mojito Icee to knock me back on track. It’s part beverage, part dessert, part straw-sipping, part spoon-dipping, and 100% perfect for the dog days of summer.

Speaking of the Mojito Icee, let’s talk about the fact that this can be made in an adults-only, rum-filled version OR a family-friendly, alcohol-free Mocktail style with a simple swap of one single ingredient. And let’s address the colour, too, please. That is all kinds of natural. I’m not kidding. There is not one single drop of artificial food colouring in the icee. The vibrant green stems (PLANT PUN ALERT) entirely from the fresh mint leaves blended in with the lime juice, rum (or white grape juice), sugar, and ice.

Really, that’s it! That’s all there is to it. Just five ingredients and five minutes and you can be sitting with your feet propped up, sipping, and dropping your core temperature like a boss. Next to sitting in a walk in freezer, this is the best way I can think of to cool off rapidly and it’s a heckuva lot more fun.

This recipe is one of the many brilliant ideas from the ever-churning mind of my darling husband, The Evil Genius. In one of our favourite eating-seasonally traditions, he waits until the mint is perfect in our yard before making the first Mojito Icee of the year. It’s an eagerly anticipated event that always ends with more dishes being dirtied than you might suspect an entirely blender-made dish would require, two-batches of icees blended thoroughly (one Mocktail for the kiddos and one high-octane for the adults), and a bunch of feet propped up on the rail of our porch.

Cook’s Notes

• My husband places a great deal of emphasis on putting the right mint into his Mojito Icees. He prefers the variety that is slightly fuzzy. Maybe gardening expert friends here can help us out and tell us which variety this is? I’m slightly more sanguine and will shove any mint into it that I can get my hands around, but I admit his icees are superior. Whether it’s his careful choice in mint, or the fact that someone else is making it, I cannot say.
• Rum. You have two choices in this area. My husband likes both golden rum and light rum for the job. They have slightly different characteristics, but both are good. I give the edge to golden rum because I think it plays nicely with the raw sugar.
• Speaking of raw sugar, we really do prefer using raw (demerara, turbinado, what-have-you) sugar for these. The flavour difference between this and regular white sugar is subtle, but it is there. Where raw sugar has a slightly caramel flavour to it, white sugar is pure sweetness. You can sub in white sugar, but remember that more of it fits into an equivalent measuring cup than would raw sugar, so you may wish to hold out a couple of tablespoons until you taste it and decide whether it needs the full amount.
• There’s not a specific amount of ice given in the recipe, and that’s for a reason. Everyone has a different idea of just how thick an icee should be. We like ours so that we can spoon some of it into our mouths, and slurp some through a straw. Just blend thoroughly between additions of ice until you reach your ideal stage!
• We have a tendency to prefer our icees a little on the dry side. Feel free to increase the sugar by as much as double the amount specified if you’re more fond of the slurpee style sweetness.

Mojito Icee {High Octane AND Mocktail Versions}

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Rebecca Lindamood

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Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup golden or light rum or an equal amount of white grape juice for a mocktail
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup pure lime juice preferably freshly squeezed, but Lakewood Pure Lime is a nice substitute.
• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• ice

Instructions

 

• Add the rum or grape juice, mint leaves, lime juice, and sugar to the blender. Fix the lid in place and blend on high until the mixture is liquified and no visible pieces of mint leaf remain. It should be bright green. Add a handful of ice cubes and blend on medium low until the ice is fully incorporated. Use a spoon to dip in and test the mixture. If it is too thin, add more ice cubes and blend again until the ice is fully incorporated. Continue adding until you reach your preferred consistency. Divide between four glasses.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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