Fruit slushes
Classic cherry slush
The seaside favourite made at home: cherry squash, water and enough sugar to slush properly.
Photo: ShakataGaNai, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kids’ party
Blue raspberry party slush (glycerol-free)
The bright blue party classic, made with a sugar-based, glycerol-free syrup — the right choice when young children are drinking it.
- Batch
- about 1.8 litres
- Serves
- 7 × 257 ml
- Setting
- Ninja SLUSHi: Slush · Tower Slushie Fusion: Slush
Ready-made slush syrups make party slush easy, but they are not all the same. Some use glycerol (E422) instead of sugar to stop the drink freezing solid, and the Food Standards Agency advises that children under seven should not have slush drinks containing glycerol. Its advice also covers home kits with glycerol in the concentrate. For a children’s party, choose a syrup whose label says it is glycerol-free and sugar-based.
Ingredients
- 300 ml blue raspberry slush syrup (glycerol-free, sugar-based)
- 1.5 litres cold water
Allergens to watch: Check the syrup label — colourings and flavourings vary by brand. Always check the labels of the brands you use.
Method
- Check the syrup label: no glycerol (E422) in the ingredients, and a dilution ratio near 5:1 or 6:1.
- Mix the syrup with the cold water, adjusting to the ratio on your bottle.
- Chill in the fridge until cold.
- Pour into the machine below the maximum fill line.
- Run the Slush setting and serve in small cups.
Sugar check
Slush syrups vary a lot, so check the diluted drink reaches at least 4 g of sugar per 100 ml. For example, if the syrup label says 60 g sugars per 100 ml, 300 ml of syrup carries 180 g of sugar — about 10 g per 100 ml once mixed to 1.8 litres. A “reduced sugar” or “zero” syrup may not reach 4% once diluted, and may rely on glycerol instead. Put your label figures into the calculator.
Tips
- Small cups for small people: at 10% sugar, a 260 ml cup holds about 26 g of sugar, more than the NHS daily free-sugar limit for 7 to 10-year-olds (24 g).
- If you are also making a grown-up slush, use a different colour so cups can’t be mixed up.
- Chill everything in the fridge first. Makers say the time to slush depends on how cold the ingredients are to start with.
Sources for the rules we followed
More from the shelf
Cola & fizzy
Cola slush
The simplest slush there is: pour in a full-sugar cola and press start. Diet cola won’t work — here’s why.
Citrus & lemonade
Fresh lemonade slush
Sharp, proper lemonade slush from lemons, sugar and water — no fizz needed.
Photo: André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5