Fancy Schmancy Citrus Granita Recipes

MINTED CITRUS GRANITA

Steps:

• Place 8- or 9-inch square glass baking dish in freezer to chill. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup of the soymilk and the sugar just to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add tea bags and push into soymilk mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.
• Stir in remaining 2 cups soymilk, the orange peel and lemon peel until well blended. Pour into chilled dish; freeze 30 minutes. When ice crystals begin to form at edges of dish, stir mixture with fork. Freeze about 3 hours longer, stirring every 30 minutes, until completely frozen.
• To serve, scoop into individual dessert bowls. Garnish with mint leaves.

CITRUS-GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Stir water, sugar, ginger, lemon zest, and lime zest together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbling, 5 to 10 minutes; cool slightly.
• Stir the ginger mixture an orange juice together in a pitcher; pour into a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Place dish in the freezer; scrape and stir orange juice mixture with a fork once every hour until granita is evenly frozen and crystallized, about 6 hours.

FANCY SCHMANCY CITRUS GRANITA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and 1 cup water to a simmer over medium low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. Stir in basil and let syrup stand for about 15 minutes.
• Now stir together orange juice, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Pour basil syrup through a fine sieve into the citrus juice mixture; discard basil.
• Move the mixture to a 9"x13" shallow glass or nonreactive dish. Chill in the freezer until edges are frozen, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the freezer; scrape with a fork, pulling from the edges into center. Return to the freezer. Repeat process every 30 minutes until the mix is the texture of shaved ice, about 4 hours. Spoon into serving bowls and garnish with a basil sprig and lemon wheel, if using. This makes it fancy! Now eat it up!

AUTHENTIC SICILIAN GRANITA AL LIMONE

Steps:

• Pour water and sugar into a saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring until sugar melts; do not bring to a boil. Remove from heat when the sugar has completely dissolved and the water is no longer cloudy. Add lemon juice and stir until combined. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
• Pour into a freezer-safe dish that has a tight lid. Cover and put into the freezer until it begins to freeze around the edges, but is still slushy in the center, about 45 minutes.
• Lightly stir the crystals from the edge of the granita mixture into the center using a fork and mix thoroughly. Replace the lid. Close the freezer and chill until granita is nearly frozen, 30 to 40 more minutes.
• Mix lightly with a fork as before, scraping the crystals loose. Repeat freezing and stirring with the fork 3 to 4 times until crystals are separate and the granita is light, dry, and fluffy.
• Serve each portion with 1/2 of a lemon wheel and fresh lemon zest on top.

ITALIAN GRANITA LEMON ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Boil the sugar and water for 5 minutes. Then let the syrup cool down and add the lemon juice and grated lemon zest. Boil everything again. Let it cool down again and put it in the freezer in a metallic container. Turn the mixture while it is freezing every 20 minutes. The Granita will be ready after 3-4 hours.

STRAWBERRY, CITRUS, AND CHAMPAGNE GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil 1 minute. Cool. Refrigerate syrup until cold, about 45 minutes.
• Puree enough strawberries (about 6 large) in blender to yield 1/2 cup puree. Transfer strawberry puree to large bowl. Mix grapefruit juice, Champagne, lemon juice and chilled syrup into strawberry puree. Pour mixture into 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan.
• Freeze Champagne mixture until icy at edge of pan, about 55 minutes. Whisk to distribute frozen portions evenly. Freeze again until icy at edge of pan and overall texture is slushy, about 40 minutes. Whisk to distribute frozen portions evenly. Cover and freeze until mixture is solid, about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, slice remaining strawberries. Place in large bowl and toss with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup Grand Marnier. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.
• Using fork, scrape granita down length of pan, forming ice flakes. (Granita can be prepared up to 2 days ahead of time. Cover and freeze until ready to serve.) Divide sliced strawberries equally among 6 wineglasses. Top with granita and serve immediately.