Tropical Punch with Strawberry Citrus Ice Cubes

When I was a kid, my mom would make some special ices cubes that consisted of Hawaiian Punch frozen with a maraschino cherry in the center. I'd fill a glass with a couple and pour 7Up over them and thought it to be the most delicious drink in all the land. Reminiscent of a Shirley Temple cocktail, I loved watching the clear, fizzy pop turn a deeper shade of pink as the cubes melted.

I haven't forgotten about these ice cubes and so created my own summery version to flavor an adult punch. Strawberries, sweetened with simple syrup and flavored with three types of citrus, these ice cubes are so, so good. I love them in lemonade and limeade as well or on their own in some sparkling water.

The punch itself is super simple to make and can be varied to suit your own tastes. I can see swapping out rum for the vodka and replacing the tropical passionfruit juice with a number of other juices. Keep it in the refrigerator until guests arrive and then stir in the prosecco.

For the Ice Cubes:

• 1 pound strawberries, stemmed and halved
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• 1 cup simple syrup

For the ice cubes, combine the strawberries, lemon, lime and orange zests and juices in the bowl of a food processor. Add the simple syrup and process for 1 minute until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice and processing again. Divide amongst 2 ice cube trays and freeze until ready to use.

For the Punch:

• 1 cup citrus flavored vodka
• 1/3 cup triple sec
• 1 litre passionfruit juice
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 bottle prosecco

In a large pitcher stir together the vodka, triple sec, juice and lime juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, slowly pour in the prosecco, stir and serve over the strawberry ice cubes. Garnish with a lime slice.