Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
Main
Page This family-friendly site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and
adults. Site-Overview
Some Points
You do not need an ice cream maker to make this at
home. Italians often serve it with a spoonful of whipped
cream on top. You can flavor the syrup base with fruit juice or
coffee, for example. The two most common flavors are coffee
and lemon. More exotic granite could be flavored with green
tea, mango, or nut flavored liquors, for example. Variations add ingredients like whipped egg whites
or sparkling wines to alter the consistency. To Make The Granita Syrup Heat this on a burner until the sugar dissolves
and the water becomes clear. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool. Some Granita Flavor Ideas Coffee: add cold coffee to the syrup to
taste. I say 'to taste' because some people like a strong
flavor, others weaker; some decaffeinated, so children can eat the
granita too. Lemon: add lemon juice and grated lemon rind
to taste. Usually you need the juice of about two lemons, but
it depends on the size of the lemons, their juiciness, and strength
of flavor. Fruit flavors: add fruit juice to taste.
You can use freshly squeezed, packaged, mixed flavors...whichever is
most convenient. Let's not be obsessive about this; let
your creativity flow. Just make a note of what you do so if it
comes out great, you can recreate it. Exotic: try exotic fruits like passion fruit,
mango or papaya; nut flavored liquors; green tea. Use your
imagination. Alter the texture of the granita by: folding
in whipped egg whites, or by adding some sparkling wine or
lemon-lime flavored soda. Pour the mixture into a glass dish and set it in
your freezer for 1 to 2 hours. Some people like to stir it with a fork just after
it starts to set, to add air to the mixture, which makes it lighter
in consistency. When it is a semi-solid mush (slush), serve it into
dishes. For my convenience (and yours!), I let it freeze
solid, then when I want to serve it, I put it in the microwave for 2
minutes. At that point, it is easy to scrape with a fork, and
serve. Anything that's left goes back in the freezer.
When I want to serve it again, back in the microwave for 2 minutes,
and it's the right consistency again. Some Granita Links Delia Smith is the top selling and most popular chef
in Britain. This link
is to her website listing of her favorite Italian desserts.
She offers great photos and easy to follow instructions, as well as lots
cooking tips. The Food Network offers this
Espresso Granita recipe. Disney Online offers this
Lemon Granita recipe for children. Monin, Flavors of the World offers these
very exotic flavors of granita. And the Press Sicilia have a
lot to say about why granite, originally from Sicily, are the
best, in Italian. My Other Summer Sweets Pages
Granita
- Water Ice
Granita
Granita
is frozen flavored syrup, sometimes called water ice or sherbet or
sorbet. It is a very cool and refreshing summer treat. And
it makes a wonderfully light dessert at the end of a summer meal.
Put into a saucepan 1 and 1/2 cups sugar with 2 cups
water.
Freezing
For some unique varieties of sorbet and granita, all
a bit more complicated than the above, click here,
to go to the What's Cooking America site.
