GRANITA

Granita is a nice substitute for ice cream or sorbet and can be made in many flavors. One advantage is that  it can be made without an ice cream maker. The disadvantage is that in order to achieve the right texture...granular...the granita must be stirred or scraped several times during the freezing process. I first enjoyed coffee granita at Fire Island many years ago when I was a guest of some friends who owned a house there. The cook had been to Italy recently and made this for dessert. I fell in love with it immediately.

 

For coffee granita:

2 C (16-oz) freshly brewed espresso, at room temperature.

1/2 C sugar

 

For lemon granita:

1 1/2 C fresh lemon juice (from about 8-9 lemons)

1/2 C sugar

 

1. For coffee granita, put espresso and sugar into a medium bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves completely, about 3 minutes.

 

2.  For lemon granita, put lemon juice, sugar and 1 cup water into a medium bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves completely, about 3 minutes.

 

3. Pour mixture of either into a medium baking dish and transfer to freezer. (You can also use ice cube trays without the dividers.) Using the times of a fork, stir the mixture every 30 minutes, scraping edges and breaking up any chunks as the mixture freezes, until granita is slushy and frozen, about 4 hours.

 

4. Divide granita into individual serving glasses or transfer into plastic container, cover and freeze until ready to serve, or up to 4 days.

 

Note: in addition to dessert, you can serve lemon granita as an 'amuse bouche," between courses at dinner.