
Homemade Sno-Cones are the classic summertime shaved ice treats with syrups made from scratch, ready to serve up anytime.
Homemade Sno-Cones
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
Since the advent of the industrial revolution, ice has been a part of modern life. During hot summers, many people used ice creatively to find ways to cool down. When ice trucks transporting ice blocks from north to south came upon the idea of serving a bit of shaved ice to happy customers on the drive down, flavoring those with sweet syrups. the sno-cone was born. Depending on the area if could be called snoballs, snow cones or shaved ice, and with few differences in the texture of the ice itself, a classic dessert was born.
For Sunday Supper this week I decided to do a very simple dessert for everyone to enjoy during the heat of the day to cool down, so sno-cones it is. If you have a sno-cone machine shaving the ice is a breeze and I do recommend that or an ice crusher.
While I hoped putting it together would be an easy enough concept, this turned out to be slightly more complicated than I first thought. The recipes I had seen everywhere combining sugar water with kool-aid simply did not work out. It was too thin and sank straight to the bottom, not clinging to the ice at all. As well, an all corn syrup blend was a dud as it seemed to freeze and gel on top of the ice. It does indeed take a blend of ingredients to produce the best syrup mixture.
Also, the color of the Kool-Aid was a little lighter than I wanted so I supplemented with food coloring. Of course, if your mix is fine or if you like a lighter color, go ahead and leave it out. You can always decide at the time you stir it up as most people have a box of colors on hand in the pantry.
If you mix this up in different colors you can make rainbow sno-cones. I like red with blue, leaving a little white ice showing for the 4th of July. Of course, not all the favorite flavors will be in those colors and at other times separate from the 4th, other colors are fine anyway.
I hope you have a safe and happy July 4th no matter where you are or how you celebrate this wonderful summer weekend. Don’t forget to scroll below the recipe to see all the linked recipes in this Sunday Supper event. Until next time-
~Sue
Homemade Sno-Cones

Yield: approximately 1 cup syrup
Syrup ingredients:
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 packet unsweetened soft drink mix, such as Kool-Aid
- 5 drops food coloring (optional)
Method:
- Whisk together thoroughly until sugar dissolves and serve over shaved ice.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.
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The kid in me loves these!
The adult in me wants to booze them up. LOL!
What a perfect way to cool down on this holiday weekend!
It was actually unusually cool here this week, but we still enjoyed these.
I’ve always wanted to make these for my boys. Now I can! Thanks!
It is certainly much less expensive than buying the syrups.
I’ve never made snow cones. Haven’t had them in years. Yours look good!
I’ve made them with an ice crusher (don’t see many of those anymore) and the ice was not as fine. I do recommend the snow cone machine just for the crushed/shaved ice. It’s not quite as goood as the shave they get on the ice at some of those Hawaiian Ice stands, but more like what I remember as a kid.
Sno Cones totally remind me of my childhood! I don’t think I’ve had one in years! With the hot summers here in Florida these will surely help beat the heat. Cheers!
It was always a regular thing for me at the summer Fireman’s Picnic which they had during July. I could eat my weight in them. 😀
This is a super fun recipe. I totally hate when things don’t turn out as planned, but I’m glad you stuck with it and got amazing results.
Was not a problem for me to work that one out at all. 😀
What a fun idea! We love getting sno-cones, they are definitely a signal that summer is here. Have a great 4th!
Thank you!
Thanks for experimenting to find the perfect syrup! My husband’s aunt owned a sno-cone stand in Alabama for a good bit during his childhood and there was one at college that we loved to frequent. I just might need to try making these – we even have a shaved ice maker that we got for our wedding.