Raspberry Lime Slushies

In the world of food blogs, I think Smitten Kitchen may be top dog.  The writing is excellent, the recipes delectable, and the photography is pretty.  It is a real pleasure when I'm notified in my reader that Smitten Kitchen has a new post.  This was one post that looked so good I just had to try the recipe, and as has been a new theme with me, I just happened to have all the ingredients at home to be able to do so right away. I even copied her idea for the photograph, even if the quality is far less spectacular. 

I've been super busy lately and maybe this kind of recipe is a little late-season to post, but it's like a last hoorah to summer.  Fall is in the air, at least here in the Pacific Northwest, and truthfully, that's how I prefer it.  But if you can still find raspberries at a fair price, go for this slushie!  My kids adored it, and that's always what I aim for.  It's really something to hit a bullseye with them in regards to acceptable food choices, and doesn't happen often enough.

Now, the original recipe called for a full cup of fresh lime juice.  People, that's like six limes, and too tart for our taste, so I've cut that amount in half, and incidentally doing that also means that you can drop the original amount of sugar by half.  Big plus.  I could even stand to cut the sugar more, but my kids disagree.  If you love sour, by all means go for the full cup of lime juice, but you'll need to add more sugar to taste.  Should I even mention that a sploosh of vodka would be divine in this?  Not that I would know, since unluckily there hasn't been any around whenever I've made this.  Such a shame too.

In addition to using an "acceptable" sugar, if you want to help your body metabolize the sugar better, eat something with fat and/or protein in it around the time you consume this.  It will slow down the impact of the sugar in your bloodstream.  I found that a splash of heavy cream in this is wonderful, and it really rounds out the acidity as well as provides the fat and protein.  It makes it dance on the line of slushie and smoothie, and I like that.

Serves 4 generously

Raspberry Lime Slushies

4 cups ice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup water
1 cup raspberries
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar, or 1/4 cup honey, or stevia to taste (maybe a packet or more)
Heavy cream, optional
1 cup soda water, optional

Place all ingredients in a blender.  Pulse for a bit to kind of crush the ice, then blend until smooth.  Add a bit of heavy cream if desired, maybe a quarter cup or more to taste, or if you add it in the individual glasses just a tablespoon will do to enhance the flavor.  Add soda water to taste, if desired, to give a fizzy effect. Serve in four glasses, with a fun straw, of course!