If it's hot where you are, Italian granitas are a refreshing and delicious way to enjoy something frosty. They are super simple to make, require only two or three ingredients and everyone loves them. For this post, I'm showing you how to make a coffee granita, which is popular is Sicily, but once you understand the technique, you can make all kinds of granitas - watermelon, strawberry, lemon, even almond - which is a favorite in Catania.
garnish with a few chocolate shavings if you like
Granitas are made by taking a flavoring, such as coffee or pureed fruit, combining it with sugar and freezing it in a pan. The technique is to not allow the liquid to freeze into a solid block - as it freezes, you scrape it with a fork to make a "slushy" type of texture.
Coffee Granita
for a printable recipe, click here
Ingredients:
- 2 cups hot coffee (the strength is up to you)
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions:
Prechill glasses if you like.
Put the sugar in an 8" x 8" glass baking dish. Pour the hot coffee over the sugar and whisk until thoroughly dissolved. Place in the freezer for about 40 minutes, until ice crystals start to form (the timing of this step will depend on your freezer). When ice crystals start to form, take a fork and start scraping, to prevent the liquid from freezing into a solid block. Keep doing this every 20 - 30 minutes, until you have a slushly type of mixture. Cover with plastic wrap.
Spoon into individual little cups and serve frosty. You can garnish with shavings of chocolate, if you like.
how great are these little mini cocktail glasses? They
even come with little spoons!
Don't let the opening photo fool you - I have not made these in typical glasses. I've used these tiny little cocktail glasses, which I just love - they are the perfect serving size for just a little something sweet!