Red White and Blue Vanilla Bean Spritzer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c water
• For the Strawberry Ice cubes:
• 12 ounces or 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1/3 c organic evaporated cane juice/ natural sugar ( I use Zulka)
• s c water
• 1 cup strawberries, hulled and diced
• For the Blueberry Ice Cubes:
• 12 ounces or 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1/3 c organic evaporated cane juice/ natural sugar ( I use Zulka)
• Ice
• 1 cup fresh blueberries, sliced in half
• For the Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup
• 1 c organic evaporated cane juice/ natural sugar (I use Zulka)
• 2 vanilla bean pods
• 1 cup water
• For the Drinks:
• Sparkling or seltzer water

Instructions

1. Place two blueberry ice cubes in a glass, then two regular ice cubes and finally 2 strawberry ones on top. Add in 1 tbsp of the vanilla bean simple syrup and fill the glass with the sparkling water.
2. For the spritzers:
3. Pour the cup of sugar in a sauce pan. Slice the vanilla bean pods in half and scrape out the seeds into the sugar. Rub the vanilla beans with the sugar using your fingertips until the sugar is very fragrant and the seeds are dispersed. Add the pods to the pan and the 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, stirring to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved turn off the heat and let cool for an hour or two to let the vanilla bean infuse the syrup. Remove the vanilla bean pods and pour the syrup into a jar and chill until ready to use.
4. For the Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup :
5. To make the ice cubes divide the chopped fresh strawberries amongst one ice cube tray, and the sliced fresh blueberries in another. For the strawberry ice cubes add 1 tbsp of the strawberry simple syrup to each cube, and top with water. For the blueberry ice cubes, add 1 tbsp of the blueberry simple syrup and top with water. Freeze until ready to use. At least 6-8 hours
6. Combine the frozen blueberries, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mash the berries against the sides of the pan to release their juices. Strain in the same manner as the strawberry syrup and keep cool until use, in refrigerator
7. Combine the frozen strawberries, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mash the berries against the sides of the pan to release as much juice as possible. Strain the simple syrup into a jar and cool completely before use. Can be kept in an airtight jar, such as a mason jar, in the refrigerator for several weeks.
8. To make the simple syrups:

Notes