I know that ray of frost states 1 creature, but I was wondering if it is possible to use it to make ice cubes or chill a drink. I am making a barbarian and thinking of magus dedication and he would use his cantrips not in combat mostly, but in day to day use for convenience since he has a 14 int.
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You're looking for Prestidigitation
Most spells only affect creatures. Effects on objects is up to the GM.
Yes GMs are likely to let you make ice cubes with it. Though perhaps not with much fine control.
Yes Prestidigitation does it explicitly, and much more besides.
You're looking for Prestidigitation
In folklore and modern fantasy stories, spellcasters often have a lot of magic that they use for convenience. For example, in Disney's 1964 cartoon Sword in the Stone the wizard Merlin used magic to wash dishes and pack luggage. However, Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons limit the spells immediately available to a caster to keep power balance in combat and support. Cantrips were originally developed to add the little magics to the spellcasters, but they ended up subject to combat utility, too. The next solution was to have one cantrip cover all the little convenient magics, Prestidigitation.
PF2 Prestidigitation is nerfed compared to PF1 Prestidigitation. I don't know why, perhaps it was too flexible and had too many support uses. It can cool a drink or it can shape a crude ice cube out of magical substance, but combining the two together to make an ice cube that cools a drink is beyond the spell as written.
The GM would either have to reflavor Prestidigitation to make ice cubes that truly absorb cold (what is the specific heat of magical substance?) or reflavor Ray of Frost to be able to make a little bit of actual ice out of water. I think that Ray of Frost would be more fun, but it would mean that some 1st-level wizards could earn pocket change creating ice for sale on hot days.
As Gortle says, the effects of spells on the environment are entirely up to the GM. There's no support in the rules, but most GMs will burn libraries with Fireball or freeze ponds with Cone of Cold. Just check with yours.
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Yeah, PF2 rules need to be read in a somewhat relaxed frame of mind. Not everything needs to be nailed down in the rules.
Combat is basically a minigame that we do very often. With high stakes (death, glory, the fate of the kingdom). Because the stakes are high it's important to get it "right", and because we do it frequently it's worth getting detailed about it.
Out of combat chilling drinks with ray of frost isn't a frequent, high stakes thing and doesn't need detailed rules. If it comes up, the GM can just decide something that feels in tune with their campaign.
So read the "target: 1 creature" not as you couldn't possibly fire the ray at something that isn't a creature. Rather, that you only have a precise description of what would happen if you fired it at a creature. If you fired it at something else, it's up to the GM to decide what that would do.
As a GM: I would allow it.
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Without too much in the way of spoilers, in the adventure Fall of Plaguestone there is a point when the players may need to cool water. The adventure specifically mentions using Ray of Frost to do just that. Based on that, it seems using cantrips for non-combat applications is intended and making an ice cube for your drink (or at least chilling it) is allowable by design.