Tropical Fruit SLUSHIES

Watermelon-Mango-Pineapple
Slushy
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How can you say no to a tropical fruit slushy, especially when Hawaii has been so miserable from the heat and humidity caused by El Nino this summer. Slushies are a great way to keep your cool during summer, or anytime. Hawaii's fresh fruits: lilikoi, mango, pineapple, kiwi, papaya, apple bananas, watermelon, etc. are great for making slushies. Unfortunately many of these fruits are seasonal. When you can't get fresh fruit, use frozen. Frozen fruit works quite well actually.

Normally people in Hawaii buy shave ice, known on the Mainland as a snow cone. The problem with snow cones and shave ice is that they are loaded with sugar syrup, which is fattening. I like to make my slushies with as little sugar as possible and rely on the natural sugar in the fresh fruit. Make sense? I think so.

You will need a good high-speed blender for these recipes, I recommend Vitamix, Blendtec, or Ninja. The Magic Bullet will also work, but it only makes 1 serving. 

Put the fruit, fresh or frozen, into your high-speed blender and process on high. It should turn into liquid fairly easily. When adding in your ice, less ice will make it easier to sip through a straw, more ice will make it easier to eat with a spoon. I usually use about 1.5 cups, but have gone all the way up to 2. Also, if you are NOT working with a high-speed blender, add in your ice a cup at a time and process in between until you have one consistent slushie mixture. If you have leftovers, consider freezing it into ice cubes. You can add the ice cubes to your blender later and have another slushy waiting to go! 

Note: When I use fresh fruit, I usually put it into zip-loc freezer bags and freeze it overnight or until frozen, this helps your slushy stay cold, this includes bananas as well. I also chill the glasses in the freezer.

So here are a few tropical fruit slushy recipes for you to keep cool with:

Watermelon-Mango-Pineapple Slushy

I posted this recipe a few months ago. It is called 'Otai in Polynesia. You can read more about it here.

Ingredients:

sweet red watermelon (about 5 cups mashed, seeds removed)

1 cup of ripe mango, diced (preferably the Haden variety)

1 cup of fresh or canned, crushed pineapple

1 tablespoon of honey
13.5 ounces of canned coconut milk
1 lime, juiced

crushed ice
shredded coconut and a wedge of watermelon, for garnish

1 shot of light rum into the bottom of each chilled glass (optional)

Procedure:

Add mango, pineapple, and honey to a blender, pulsing several times, then add seedless watermelon flesh, pulse again once or twice, leaving the solution with some texture and body from the fruit.

When you get the texture to where you like it, stir in the coconut milk, and fresh squeezed lime juice. Pour into glasses over crushed ice (if you’d like) and top with shredded coconut. Garnish with a wedge of watermelon and or lime. Makes 8 servings.

Mango-Banana Slushy

Ingredients:

1 fresh ripe mango, peeled and cut up, or 9 ounces of frozen mango cubes

1 banana, cut into chunks (I like to use Hawaii's apple bananas but they are small so I use 2)

2 cups fresh orange juice

4 ice cubes

Procedure:

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or high-speed blender, then process until smooth and thick. Makes one serving.

Mango-Pineapple-Lilikoi Slushy

Ingredients:

2 large fresh mango peeled and cubed to make approximately 3 cups frozen mango

1 pineapple, peeled, chopped

2 cups ice cubes

3 lilikoi (passionfruit) halved

Procedure:

Blend frozen mango, pineapple and ice cubes until thick and smooth. Add lilikoi pulp. Pulse until just combined. Spoon into chilled glasses. Serve with a straw. Makes 4 servings.

Mango-Ginger-Lime Slushy

Ingredients:
1 large ripe mango peeled and cubed (this will make approximately 1 1/2 cups of cubed mango)
2-inch piece of peeled fresh ginger teaspoons ginger juice (to make ginger juice, using a micro plane, zest the ginger using the fine shredder and squeeze)
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons honey (adjust to taste as it depends on sweetness of the mango)
3 cups of ice
Zest from one lime for garnishing

Procedure:

Peel and cube the ripe mango. Place into a high-speed blender. Now take a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger and peel it. Take a microplane and run the ginger over it until it is completely zested. Squeeze the ginger zest into a small cup to measure 2 teaspoons of juice, then put it into the blender. Then with the microplane, zest one lime, and put aside to use for garnish. Now cut the lime in half and squeeze to make 3 tablespoons of lime juice. Add it to the blender along with honey and ice. Blend on high speed until it is crushed and smooth. Serve immediately, garnished with lime zest. Makes 2 servings.

Fresh Papaya Slushy

Ingredients:
2 cups cubed papaya
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup honey
4 cups crushed ice

Procedure:
Cut the papaya in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh. Cut a 1 inch slice off 1 papaya half, peel, and cut into pieces; repeat with other half.

Place the papaya, lime juice, and honey in a high-speed blender, and blend on high. Add ice and blend, turning the blender on and off to mix all the ingredients and create a fine icy slush. You may need to break up the mixture a couple of times with a spoon or dinner knife, but make sure the blender is turned off. Taste as you go. You should be able to taste the lime. Makes 4-6 servings.

Papaya-Strawberry Slushy

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of cubed papaya

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries

4 ice cubes

1/2 cup water

Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Procedure:
Add ice, 1/2 cup water, strawberries fresh or frozen and papaya to a high-speed blender. Blend on high until thoroughly pureed. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

Kiwi-Lime Slushy

Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lime
2 kiwis, peeled, quartered and frozen (ahead of time)
12 ounce club soda
4 ice cubes

1 teaspoon of honey (more or less to your taste)

Procedure:

Using a high-speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until it looks like one consistent slushy mixture. Makes 1-2 servings.

Raspberry-Lime Slushy
Ingredients:

juice of 2 limes
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon of honey (more or less to your taste)

Procedure:

Using a high-speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until it looks like one consistent slushy mixture. Makes 1 serving.