It has been quite warm where I live, which can only mean one thing: It’s time for snow cones! When I was growing up, my mom, sister, and I would go to the seasonal roadside stand near our home for snow cones every week. It was one of the most fun (and delicious) parts of summer as a kid.
Now as an adult, I still enjoy a good snow cone, though my neighborhood doesn’t have any place that sells them. So, when I saw that Dash has a shaved ice and slushy maker, I immediately grabbed it. I had never before tried making snow cones at home, and now I can’t stop — complete with fresh and fruity homemade syrups.
What You Should Know About the Dash Deluxe Shaved Ice & Slushy Maker
The Deluxe Shaved Ice & Slushy Maker comes in two cute colors — aqua and cream — for just under $40. The machine itself is about the length of a medium-size fruit bowl and comes with a 1-liter pitcher for making shaved ice or drinks in. (Red sangria, anyone?)
It also includes a recipe guide, which was a really helpful place to start my homemade snow cone journey. I’ve been making the strawberry syrup included in the booklet on repeat, but I can’t wait to try out the 13 other recipes in it.
My Honest Review of the Dash Deluxe Shaved Ice & Slushy Maker
The main reason I wanted this ice maker is so I don’t have to constantly go out to get snow cones this summer. The machine is superlight at just 3.4 pounds, which makes it easy to bring back and forth from my counter to my storage rack (the ice maker’s compact, but I don’t use it enough to keep it on my counter all the time).
The machine is super easy to use. The knob on the front allows me to decide the texture of the ice: coarse, medium, or fine. I always pick fine for snow cones, though I personally love the idea of using the coarse option for cocktails or mocktails — especially since I don’t have a nugget ice maker or a fridge that makes crushed ice.
Once I selected the ice setting, I just loaded in my ice cubes, put the cover on, and let the machine do its thing. I did help the ice cubes along a little, stopping the machine every so often to push them closer to the blade. (Don’t worry, the spiral design of the shaving cup made it so I wasn’t at risk of catching my fingers on it)
After I was done making my shaved ice, I didn’t have to spend much time cleaning the machine. Because I was only using ice cubes, cleaning it by hand was effortless. There is a recipe in the booklet that swaps frozen watermelon chunks for ice, so that might require a little more effort, but nothing I’m concerned about.
Initially, I wondered if I’d have to buy syrups for this homemade snow cone journey. So I was excited to see the included recipe guide has six different syrup recipes based on color. I made the “red” one, which is strawberry or raspberry flavored. I used strawberries, and it resulted in the freshest tasting snow cone I’ve ever had — yes, even better than the ones at my favorite hometown roadside stand. I could’ve drank the syrup on its own.
My next adventure with this machine: Making the hazelnut iced coffee slushy from the booklet. Who says slushies can’t be for breakfast?
What’s your favorite way to make shaved ice at home? Tell us about it in the comments below.