Enjoy the Icy Refreshment of Granita

What's granita? It's a classic dessert from Italy, a grainy ice with intense flavoring that is served as a palate cleanser between courses, a complement to a main dish or most often as a cooling refreshment.

Author Nadia Roden prefers to define granita by what it's not. "It's not ice cream, because it has no cream," she says. "It's not sorbet, because it has no egg white. And it's not smooth, because it is not churned. Instead, it's like an icy snowflake. And since it contains no dairy product, it has no fat or cholesterol. It's healthy as well as delicious."

"A granita uses the actual fruit or other ingredients in highly concentrated form, rather than syrup, and consequently has a much more pronounced flavor. When I serve my orange granita, for example, people often say, 'It tastes more like an orange than an orange does.'"

Granita's texture comes from "raking" the ice. You partially freeze it, rake it with a fork, then freeze it a little more and re-rake it, repeating this process several times.

How To Make Granita

(From the book Granita Magic by Nadia Roden)

Classic method:

1. Follow a granita recipe, and pour liquid mixture into a wide, shallow container.

2. Cover with a lid, foil or plastic wrap and freeze for an hour or two until it has frozen around the edges.

3. Take out container and scrape ice with a fork, mixing it from the edges into the center.

4. Repeat this scraping process every half-hour or so until the entire mixture has turned into small ice flakes. (At least three times will be necessary.)

5. Serve in attractive glasses or bowls, preferably immediately. You may leave granita in the freezer overnight. If you do, let it sit for a few minutes to soften, and rake it with a fork to lighten the texture just before serving.

Quick method:

Although satisfactory, this will give the granita a finer texture, more like a slush; Nadia Roden recommends not using it unless you are pressed for time.

1. Pour liquid granita mixture into ice-cube trays and freeze until solid.

2. Just before serving, put granita ice cubes in a food processor and blend for a few seconds until smooth.

Orange Granita

Prep time: 4 hours, 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Note: Three hours and 50 minutes of the prep time is for the freezing of the granita.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 2 oranges
Juice of 6 large oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
3 to 4 tsp. orange blossom water (optional)

Preparation:

1. Put the water, sugar and orange zest in a saucepan and gently simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove the saucepan from the heat to cool. Mix in the orange and lemon juices and the orange blossom water, if using.

2. To freeze, follow the "classic method" in the How to Make Granita instructions above.

Serves: 4 to 6

Coffee Granita

Prep time: 4 hours, 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Note: Three hours and 50 minutes of the prep time is for the freezing of the granita.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup finely ground espresso coffee
1 tsp. lemon zest
5 to 6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation:

1. If you have an espresso machine, make 2 1/2 cups of extra-strong espresso. Otherwise put the water in a saucepan, add the coffee grounds, and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat.

2. Add the lemon zest and allow to infuse for 5 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter.

3. Mix in the sugar while the coffee is still warm. Stir in the lemon juice.

4. To freeze, follow the "classic method" in the How to Make Granita instructions.

Serves: 4 to 6