It’s a holiday weekend and we’ve been sweating away in 90° F temperatures in here in the Northeast for most of the week. This combination calls for granita.
Granita is one of my favorite summer sweets. A Sicilian dessert that consists of just fruit (or coffee!), sugar, and water to create icy shards that are cold and refreshing, perfect for flaking over creamy ice cream or slurping slushie-style with a glug of something boozy.
To make granita, simply blend fruit with simple syrup and then pour it into a shallow baking dish. Pop it in the freezer and fluff the granita with a fork every 30 minutes or so to break up the ice crystals for a few hours until everything is evenly fluffy and frozen.
other granita ideas
ESPRESSO GRANITA OVER VANILLA ICE CREAM (recipe here!)
PINEAPPLE GRANITA + A SPLASH OF RUM
MANGO GRANITA + VANILLA ICE CREAM + TORN MINT
STRAWBERRY GRANITA + WHIPPED CREAM + OLIVE OIL
watermelon granita and rosé slushie
makes about 1 quart of granita
Ingredients
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
100 g water
1/2 cup basil leaves
9 cups watermelon, cubed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
dry rosé wine
Instructions
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, and basil leaves. Bring to a boil, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until fragrant and sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely before straining out the basil leaves.
Place watermelon, basil syrup, and salt in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the watermelon juice into a 9x13 sized baking dish and place in the freezer.
Use a fork to scrape and break up the granita as it freezes every 30 minutes or so over the course of 3-4 hours. Granita is ready when it is completely frozen, flaky and fluffy in texture.
To make the slushies, fill a glass with watermelon granita. Pour chilled rosé over the granita and enjoy!
Notes:
If you want to leave the basil out of this, you can use the same sugar and water ratios to make a plain simple syrup instead. You can also substitute another herb if that floats your boat.
Lovely! Thank you.