How to make piraguas: Puerto Rican shaved ice

What are piraguas?

A piragua is a Puerto Rican frozen dessert that consists of shaved ice and fruit-based syrup formed into a pyramid shape. Piraguas are sold by street vendors known as piragüeros in Puerto Rico, but can also be found in the United States in places like New York City and Central Florida.

Traditionally, the dessert is made by shaving a block or puck of ice with a handheld shaving tool and topping the ice with fruit flavored syrup. You can make your own piraguas at home with a shaved ice machine and your favorite toppings and flavors.

Puerto Rican piragua recipe

Your KitchenAid^® stand mixer can open the door to endless dessert possibilities with the help of different attachments¹ like the Shave Ice Attachment. Quickly and easily make over 1 pint (500mL) of fine shaved ice in 60 seconds.² You can use your stand mixer to help you create delicious piragua recipes at home.

^{1 Sold separately.}

^{2 Excludes prep time, based on plain ice using fine blade.}

Yields

• 3-4 servings

Ingredients

For the shave ice:

• Ice pucks

For the syrup:

• Fruit, like lemons, strawberries, mangoes or pineapples

• Sugar

• Water (more if using dense fruits)

Tools

• KitchenAid^® stand mixer with Shave Ice Attachment

• Blender

• Ice molds (to freeze ice pucks)

• Saucepan

• Cups for serving

• Wooden spoon

• Small bottle or carafe for pouring syrup

• Straws and spoons

Prep time

If you haven’t frozen ice pucks in the provided ice molds, allow 12–24 hours for water to become completely frozen through.

Total time

Though the Shave Ice Attachment can turn ice pucks into fluffy shaved ice in less than a minute, the total time to prepare piraguas is about an hour as you need to boil and cool the fruit syrup before serving.

Step 1: Prep your fruit

Before adding your ingredients to your saucepan to create your syrup, prep your fruit to be cooked. Remove large or inedible seeds and/or stems and leaves.

Step 2: Combine syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil

Add your fruit, sugar and water to your saucepan and turn on the heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has completely dissolved and the fruit has softened (about 10 minutes), remove from heat and let cool.

Step 3: Add syrup mixture to your blender

Once your mixture has cooled, add it to a blender. Puree the ingredients to create a smooth consistency for your piraguas.

Tip: For the best results, refrigerate your syrup until it is completely chilled.

Step 4: Shave your ice

Add your ice pucks to your KitchenAid^® Shave Ice Attachment. Place a bowl beneath the attachment to catch the ice as it comes out. Select the coarse blade, then turn on the stand mixer to high speed to shave the ice to the proper texture.

Step 5: Build your piraguas

Using a wooden spoon, fill your serving glasses with shaved ice to form the traditional pyramid shape. Then, pour your syrup over the ice to saturate it and enjoy.

What are popular piragua flavors?

Piraguas are typically flavored with tropical fruit syrups like guava, lemon and strawberry. Some other popular flavors include:

• Piragua de crema: Flavored with condensed milk, vanilla extract, evaporated milk and heavy cream.

• Piragua de parcha: Flavored with syrup made from passion fruits (parcha).

• Piragua de melao: Flavored with syrup from the sugar cane plant.

• Piragua de ajonjolí: Flavored with a sesame seed-based syrup.

• Piragua de coco: Flavored with coconut syrup.

When you make piragua at home, you can customize your syrup to your taste and experiment with unlimited flavor combinations.

What’s the difference between piraguas and raspados?

The main differences between the two icy treats is their culture of origin and their flavor profiles. Mexican raspados traditionally utilizes sweet, savory or spicy flavors–and sometimes all three. Puerto Rican piraguas typically lean towards more sweet or creamy flavors.

Learn more about what makes raspados different and how to make them.