Raspados Loly's

"Raspados Loly’s is all about raspados, the crushed ice Nicaraguan dessert. The ice here is crushed instead of shaved, which helps the larger pieces melt more slowly. This is important in Miami for obvious reasons. You can have your raspado layered with spoonfuls of housemade fruit jams or topped with about a quarter inch of dulce de leche. You can also opt to bury chunks of Nicaraguan-style pound cake between the layers of ice. You should do that." - mariana trabanino, virginia otazo, ryan pfeffer

"For a city that gets so infernally hot, Miami has a severe lack of shaved ice. Fortunately, Raspados Loly’s in Sweetwater has been picking up the slack for several decades, although this family-owned shaved ice and ice cream shop got its start over 50 years ago in Nicaragua. There, the family’s matriarch experimented with her own creations, like burying buttery cubes of Nicaraguan pound cake and housemade dulce de leche between layers of crushed ice. Loly’s masterpieces also feature the family’s own homemade jams made with Central American fruit (we love the nance). The raspados are enormous, and the ice is crushed in such a way that it melts slowly—meaning you can take your time and enjoy it even on the hottest day of summer." - carlos c olaechea, virginia otazo

"To say that Loly’s does Nicaraguan shaved ice underplays just how innovative this Sweetwater classic is with its recipes, like the relleno, which layers crushed ice with dulce de leche and buttery cubes of Nica pound cake. If that just sounds too heavy, get a regular raspado layered with Loly’s housemade fruit jams, like nance and passion fruit. What we really love about the raspados here is that they’re made with coarser crushed ice, which melts slowly—even on the hottest day in August." - ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino, carlos c olaechea

"Korea has bingsoo, New Orleans has snowballs, and Nicaragua has raspados. While these can be found throughout Latin America, Nicaraguans have a unique way of approaching them, and Raspados Loly’s has long been the destination for Nicaraguans in Miami craving a sweet, refreshing taste of their homeland. The ice here is crushed instead of shaved with the larger pieces melting more slowly than the finely shaved ice found in other types of snow cones. Additionally, the crushed ice is layered with spoonfuls of homemade fruit jams, including nance, a Central American fruit that grows on a specific variety of palm tree. You can also get your raspado topped with about a quarter inch of dulce de leche, which mingles with the melting ice and fruit jams, making a sort of milky beverage. As if that weren’t enough, you can also opt to bury chunks of Nicaraguan-style pound cake between the layers of ice. Food Rundown photo credit: Tasty Planet Nance Jam Raspado Raspados Loly’s has a variety of homemade fruit jams, but this one is our favorite. Nance is a type of small, yellow fruit native to the Americas. It has a sweet flavor without much acidity. These are stewed in sugar whole, so there are some pits to be mindful of (kind of like cherry pits). But that just forces you to slow down and really savor this as the jam combines with the melting ice. Dulce De Leche And Pound Cake Raspado This is Loly’s signature raspado, and it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Crushed ice gets layered with cubes of Nicaraguan-style pound cake and homemade dulce de leche. The giant styrofoam cup gets completely covered with a thick layer of dulce de leche, too. The dulce de leche slowly gets diluted with the melting ice to make a sort of caramel-flavored sweet milk. Every other spoonful gives you a piece of buttery pound cake. It’s one of those desserts that straddles the line between rich and creamy and light and refreshing." - Carlos C Olaechea