Looking for a healthy treat to beat the summer heat?

My younger daughter Maya loves any kind of fruit or vegetable juice, so today I made her a frosty-sweet shaved ice flavored with only unsweetened pineapple guava juice. To make the whole thing more tropical looking, I hollowed out a pineapple and used an eco-friendly bamboo straw.

The store bought guava juice and freshly blended pineapple juice combined to create a really delicious, slightly tart, flavor that she and I both really enjoyed. It was fast, simple, very hydrating, and a sure-fire way to beat the tropical heat.

This is a super simple recipe with only two real ingredients besides the water and ice (3 if you count the pineapple juice made from the pineapple). Besides the pineapple and the guava juice, all you’ll need is a shave ice machine. We really like this one because it’s nice and compact and easy to use.

If you’re looking to sweeten this up a bit, you can always boil some water and sugar to make a simple syrup and then add the juice to that mix to make a syrup. We found it didn’t need this, but if you like your shave ice sweet you may prefer using sugar.

Remember before you start to let the ice temper at room temperature for about 15 minutes before shaving it to make sure it has the right hardness.  If you don’t do this, you won’t get a good texture out of the ice and you’ll wear out the shaver blade.

You’ll Need:

• Shave ice machine
• Blender
• Strainer
• Water
• Ice
• 1 whole pineapple
• 1 liter of guava juice

Instructions:

1. Slice the top off of the pineapple and set it aside.
2. Use a filet knife or other thin-bladed knife to carefully cut around the inside of the pineapple, about 1/2″ away from the outside.
3. Slice across the inside of the pineapple to make an X
4. Using a spoon, hallow out the inside of the pineapple and retain the pieces and juice in a bowl
5. Transfer the pineapple pieces to a blender along with a little water (maybe a cup or so)  and blend until the juice is well mixed
6. Strain the pineapple juice with a strainer to remove the pulp.
7. After letting your ice temper outside the freezer for 15 minutes, shave it into a bowl
8. Using a spoon, scoop the ice into the pineapple and compress it a little bit (but not so much that you press all the air out).
9. Add the pineapple and guava juices over the top