Granita is an Italian frozen dessert very
similar to sorbet, except that it's made by hand instead of in a machine.
Because of this, the texture of granita is coarser and flakier - like eating
snow! It's briefly crunchy at the first spoonful and then melts deliciously in
your mouth.
With all the ripe summer fruit around flooding the market,
there is no shortage of possibilities that one can try with Granitas. To make granita, you do nothing more than pour a fruity
liquid into a pan, then place it in the freezer and use a spoon or fork to
scrape the icy mixture as it freezes. It couldn’t be simpler, and there are so
many different varieties: just make a liquid out of any fruit, pour it in a
pan, and freeze it. Your Granita is ready.
I had shared a chilled melonballs salad with you the other day
and I have the some leftover watermelon from that and see what I had been up to
the whole week to beat the summer heat
and keep myself cool. I will share the simple tricks of making this easy and quick coolers in other posts.
Coming back to Granita, I have tried the watermelon version.
The gorgeous color of the watermelon shines through, and it reminds me of the summer outside. The great thing about granita is that the light, scraped ice on
top stays perfectly frozen in the freezer and never crystallizes. It’s
always light, cold, and perfect.
The exact recipe for the granita can vary
depending on how ripe the fruit is, how sweet or sour it is, and how much
liquid it holds. The ingredients for making granita is fruits, water and sugar.
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring
occasionally, until all the fruit has broken down into a pulp or alternatively,
you churn the fruit in a food processor until it is pureed. Make a sugar syrup
in advance and then stir it into the fruit puree.
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time; 5
minutes
Setting time: 4
hours
Things you need to
make this Granita:
- 4 cups watermelon cubes
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/3 cup condensed milk
- a pinch of black salt
- a pinch of crushed pepper
- 1/2 cup raisins
- lime wedges and mint leaves for garnishing
Let's learn how to make this Granita:
- Place watermelon in container of food processor; pulse to puree watermelon.
- Place the strainer over a bowl, pour pureed watermelon into it to strain out seeds, forcing watermelon through with back of spoon, if needed.
- Stir lime juice and condensed milk into pureed watermelon.
- Add salt and crushed pepper and pour into a freezer safe pan until firm.
- After half an hour, take the pan out of the freezer and scrap the granita with a fork. Put it back in the freezer.
- Continue doing this every half an hour or so until the granita is completely frozen and resembles fresh snow. Depending on how often and how vigorously you stir the granita, the texture can be flakier (less stirring) or finer (more stirring).
- At this stage, you can either serve it up in individual bowls or lightly pack it into an air-tight container for later.
- To serve, scrape frozen watermelon mixture with spoon to make granita. Stir in currants and serve with lime wedges and mint leaves immediately.
Enjoy Your
Granita........ an easy frozen dessert that celebrates the fabulous fruit
. That's really all there is to it. Watch
out for this space for some amazing recipes.
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