Make Piragua to Share With a Friend!

In the Bronx, where Alma lives, piragua carts are a common sight. Piragua sellers, called piragueros, push carts loaded with huge blocks of ice and many different flavors of fruit syrup. Part of the fun of ordering piragua is watching the piraguero use a special ice shaver to scrape away at the ice, forming a perfect cone in a paper cup, right before your eyes. Then customers choose a flavor, such as orange, coconut, pineapple, strawberry or cherry. No summer in the Bronx is complete without piragua!

Piragua can be enjoyed at home, too. You and your child can have a blast whipping up a batch to share with friends. This activity is highly customizable — make one flavor of syrup, or, if you have the time, make a few different flavors. Your child can add as much or as little (but probably a lot!) of the fruit syrup as they’d like, or even create a flavor all their own. And, if a friend joins in on the fun, children can take turns scooping blended ice and adding syrup for their very own piraguas.

Ingredients

Directions

Freeze two ice cube trays of water.

While the ice freezes, prepare the fruit syrup. You’ll want to give your syrup plenty of time to cool before adding it over your ice, so prepare your syrup at least an hour before you’ll be blending ice, or the night before. To make the syrup, add a cup of your chosen fruit to the saucepan, along with ½ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water. (Strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, mango, and pineapple work very well for making piragua at home, and you can use fresh or frozen.)

Cook the fruit, sugar, and water over a medium-low heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for about 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture may begin to simmer, but try not to let it boil. As you stir, ask your child what changes they notice as the fruit cooks. Do they notice a change in shape or color?

Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes before carefully transferring it into a blender. With your child, notice the chunks of fruit in the mixture. Then, blend on medium-high speed. You’ll want a very runny syrup.

(Tip: With denser fruit, like mango, you may need to add a little more water to get the runny consistency.)

Experiment with your child — there’s no “one way” your syrup needs to taste to make great piragua. Cool to room temperature. For best results, chill in the fridge overnight.

Once your syrup is cooled, you’ll be ready to make piragua! Celebrate yours and your child’s patience, and let them know that great things are worth waiting for, even though it’s hard to wait! Put about a half dozen ice cubes into your blender and pulse until the ice becomes fine pebbles. If you have another tool for crushing ice, you can use that. Preparing small batches at a time works best, so repeat for each piragua. Carefully scoop the ice into cups.

Time to add the syrup! Using a pipette, a small cup with a spout, or even spoons, allow your child to drizzle syrup over their ice cup. Notice together the way the syrup spreads over the ice. Ask your child to think about how they’d like their piragua to taste — very sweet, or very icy?

If you’ve made several syrups, have fun experimenting with flavor! Allow your child to dream up new flavor combinations and try them out in different cups.

Of course, piragua is best enjoyed with a friend. Invite a friend or neighbor over, and become piragueros! Make sure you have plenty of straws, spoons, and cups on hand, and give everyone a chance to prepare their very own piragua.

We hope you had fun together! Snap a photo of you and your child doing the activity and share it with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We’d love to see how it turned out!

Want more “Alma’s Way” activities? Check out the Paint the View From Your Window craft and the Create a Hero Song activity to continue the fun!