Shave Ice and Snoball Recipes

Fluffy Shave Ice drizzled with flavored syrup is the best way to cool off on a hot summer day! Top your snoball with gummies, sprinkles, or whipped cream.

The first time I ever had shaved ice was at Pelican’s SnoBalls in North Carolina. Every time I eat one I’m taken right back to our vacations at the beach.

What is shave ice?

Shave ice is a frozen treat made by shaving a block of ice. The shaved ice is light and fluffy like snow and can be formed like a snow ball. It is then topped with sweet, colorful, flavorful snow cone syrups. There are many other toppings and fillings that can be added as well.

Shave ice has its origins in East Asian cultures and was brought to American by Hawaiian immigrants. Most countries have some version of this frozen dessert with varying thicknesses of ice and toppings

What kind of syrup can you use on shave ice?

You can make a homemade syrup with only three ingredients like in my snow cone syrup recipe here. Otherwise, you can purchase flavored syrups online or at your local grocery store. You can even use coffee syrups such as Torani. When I was little, we used to sprinkle kool-aid powder over snow and stir it to distribute the flavor. Here are some more topping ideas:

• sweetened condensed milk
• chocolate syrup
• caramel syrup
• whipped cream
• ice cream
• sprinkles
• gummies
• candy
• fresh fruit

What is the best ice for making shave ice?

We found that the harder the ice the better it was for making fluffy shave ice. My family loves ice so we have a countertop ice machine that makes perfect little ice pellets. But we found that the ice was a little too soft when used directly from the ice machine. So, we put the cubes in gallon size freezer bags overnight so that they were more solid by the time we shaved it.

How do you shave ice?

The traditional way of shaving ice is to use a metal tool to shave ice from a large block. We decided to use a machine to do the shaving for us. This powerful, electric ice shaver has dual blades that quickly turn cubes into fluffy snow.

You texture isn’t a big concern you can also crush ice in a blender, or food processor. Another option is to crush the ice by hand. You can put ice in a clean, sturdy cloth or a gallon size bag and smash it with a mallet.

How much ice will I need?

Two cups of the pellet ice cubes from our ice machine makes 1 3/4 cups of crushed ice. The amount of ice you need will depend on the size of your or cups or bowls and how much you pack the ice. We found that 1 3/4 cups was enough to make one 6 oz shave ice.

Minne-SNO-da Shave Ice

The Minne-SNO-da shave ice features green grass, a blue lake, with a gummy fish on top. Fill a foam cup with shaved ice. Drizzle green lemon lime syrup around the outer edge and blue raspberry syrup in the center.

Top with a snoball and repeat the drizzling of syrups. Plop a gummy fish into the lake and it is ready to eat.

Unicorn Snoball

This Unicorn Snoball is for those who like things pretty and sweet. It has pink and purple swirled syrup, whipped cream, cotton candy, edible glitter, and a unicorn lollipop! Fill a foam cup with fluffy ice. Drizzle it with pink cotton candy syrup and purple grape syrup.

Put a ball of shaved ice on top. Make a swirl of pink cotton candy syrup followed by a swirl of purple grape syrup. Top this snoball with whipped cream, cotton candy, a sprinkle of edible glitter stars, and a unicorn lollipop.

Orange Cream Shave Ice

The Orange Cream flavor is reminiscent of the creamsicles of our youth. It has orange cream syrup drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. It is topped with whipped cream and a gummy orange slice. Fill a cup with shaved ice and drizzle it with orange cream syrup.

Add a ball of fluffy ice to the cup. Drizzle with more orange cream syrup. Then, pour on a swirl of sweetened condensed milk. Top with whipped cream and a gummy orange slice.

Shark Bite Snoball

The only bite in a Shark Bite Snoball is bold colors and sour syrup. It features blue “water” with a pool of red syrup and a gummy shark on top. To make this flavor, fill a cup with fluffy “snow”. Squeeze sour blue raspberry syrup around the outer edge with tigers blood syrup in the middle.

Top with more blue around the edges and red in the middle. Add a gummy shark to the top.

Put A Ring On It

The Put A Ring On It flavor is for wedding day dreamers. It tastes like cotton candy, wedding cake with a ring on top. Fill a cup with shaved ice and drizzle purple grape syrup on one side, cake batter in the middle, and pink cotton candy syrup on the other side.

Put a snoball on top and drizzle with more of all three flavors. Finally, add sprinkles and a colorful Ring Pop.

A-BEAR-ica Shave Ice

An A-BEAR-ica Shave Ice is a tribute to the United States of America! It has red, white and blue stripes and is topped with red, white, and blue gummy bears and edible glitter stars. To make this patriotic option, fill a cup with ice shavings and drizzle red cherry syrup on one side, clear green apple in the middle, and blue raspberry on the other side.

Add a snow ball to the top and drizzle the same syrups on top. Sprinkle it with edible silver glitter stars and add red, white, and blue gummy bears.

Want to make more fair food? Try these recipes next:

With this Corn Dogs recipe, you can make your favorite fair food at home! Hot dogs are hand dipped in a sweet, honey flavored batter and fried until golden.

Deep Fried Pickles are one of the most popular appetizers! Serve the crispy fried pickles on a stick as an appetizer with dipping sauce.

Eating a Snow Cone brings me right back to my childhood. Snocones are a classic summer treat that is easy to make at home!

Make this easy Funnel Cake Recipe and surprise your family with fair food at home! Just add your favorite toppings to these sweet, crispy funnel cakes.