Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Recipe

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Frozen cocktails are delightful thirst-quenchers on hot days, and just have a particular "on-holiday" feel. Of course, many of us have had the less-than-charming experience of being served a cocktail from a frozen drink machine that tastes like a watery slushy with more sweetness than any other perceptible flavor. This frozen strawberry daiquiri recipe seeks to abolish all of that, and utilizes freshly frozen tart-sweet ripe berries and lime juice ice cubes for maximum flavor intensity. Freezing the berries and the lime juice prevents dilution in your cocktail from melting the ice, while keeping the cocktail creamy and icy all at once. All you need is a high-speed blender and a bit of prep time to master a perfect frozen and spiked treat.

It is important to have a high-speed blender for this recipe in order to create a smooth and creamy cocktail. A bit of initial pulsing of the frozen fruit, lime cubes, and liquids helps to break up large chunks before cranking up the speed. If your blender struggles at first to keep the contents spinning, just stop, scrape down the blender sides, and keep blending. Have chilled glasses ready, some fruit for garnish, and savor the results. 

The original daiquiri is a classic 3-ingredient cocktail, using just rum, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This frozen strawberry daiquiri recipe switches in fresh lime juice (lots of it) for the lemon, and adds individually frozen ripe strawberries. Start with white rum as the base of your cocktail. White rum keeps the overall flavor crisp and light, letting the fruit flavors shine through. Freeze fresh, ripe  strawberries rather than buying a bag from you freezer section. This gives you total quality control in choosing the best fruit to go into your drink. Just be sure to let your berries freeze for a solid 24 hours for the creamiest texture in your cocktail. You will freeze a majority of the lime juice into ice cube form. This prevents against dilution in your cocktail and adds so much fresh lime flavor. Last, you will need turbinado sugar to make a simple syrup. Rather than a standard 1:1 ratio of sugar to water, this recipe calls for a 2:1 ratio, which intensifies the richness of the sugar flavor and boosts the viscosity. Save a few fresh strawberries and a lime for making garnishes on your finished daiquiris. 

Pour 4 ounces of the fresh lime juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove any pulp.

Transfer the strained juice to a clean ice cube tray and freeze for at least 8 hours.

Combine the sugar with ¼ cup water in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar crystals.

Remove the pan from the heat once the sugar has dissolved and pour the syrup into a heat-proof glass container. Cool to room temperature.

Cover and chill the syrup until cold.

Place 2 coupe or martini glasses and a high-speed blender pitcher in the freezer to chill completely.

Remove the blender pitcher from the freezer and add the rum, 2 ounces of the cane syrup, and the remaining fresh lime juice. Reserve the cane syrup for another use.

Add the frozen lime juice cubes to the pitcher.

Add the frozen strawberries.

Pulse the blender several times to break up the solids.

Turn the blender to high speed and process until uniform in texture (about 30 seconds).

Pour the daiquiri mixture into the chilled glasses.

Garnish each with a lime wheel and a strawberry. Serve immediately.

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If you are considering a large batch of these frozen strawberry daiquiris for a summer party or other occasion, there are definitely steps that can be done ahead to lighten the entertaining load. As mentioned earlier, you want your strawberries to be rock-hard frozen, so get these ready to go up to several weeks in advance. Not only do the freshly frozen strawberries have a better intensity of flavor, but they help take the place of ice in creating a creamy frozen texture, while not diluting the drink with water. You can also make your lime ice cubes several weeks in advance to have on hand any time you want to make this cocktail. 

The turbinado simple syrup can be made up to a month in advance and stored in a jar in your refrigerator. With all of these components ready to go, a batch of frozen strawberry daiquiris is just a blender away. Have everything else chilled, as well – the glasses and blender pitcher, the rum, and the fresh lime juice. Even though it would be nice to have a big batch of these mixed in advance and ready to serve, they are best blended and garnished last minute to preserve the silky, frozen texture.

Turbinado sugar might resemble brown sugar at a quick glance, but the two are quite different. I love using turbinado sugar as a "finishing" sugar to sprinkle on muffins, pies, cookies, or other pastries, as the large crystal size gives a delightful crunch and contrast to the softness or flakiness of baked goods. The flavor and color of turbinado sugar have hints of caramel, coming from traces of molasses left over from processing. This rich flavor adds complexity and balance to the cocktail while pairing perfectly with the fruity acidity of the berries and tart lime.

Although it might be tempting to make your simple syrup with basic granulated white sugar, I promise that seeking out the turbinado is worth it. The difference it makes in overall flavor is striking and the caramel hue further intensifies the beautiful color of the pureed berries. All of that said, white granulated sugar is also completely acceptable in a pinch. Classic cocktail simple syrup is versatile and adaptable due to its neutral sweet flavor and perfectly clear color. 

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