What is a granita?!
Answers: I have seen several recipes that say it is similar to a sorbet. I have also been to espresso bars which say it is basically a frozen Italian soda. Which is correct?
Granita is similar to sorbet but it is more like a "slushie" whereas a sorbet is more like an "ice."
COFFEE GRANITA
1-3 tbsp. sugar
2 c. hot, strong, freshly brewed coffee
Whipped cream
Stir the sugar into the hot coffee until completely dissolved. Allow to cool. Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl and place it in the freezer. About every 30 minutes stir it to break up the ice crystals. Eventually the mixture will become slushy. Scrape off any frozen crystals that are stuck to the side of the bowl, and break up any clumps with a spoon. Allow the granite to firm up slightly in the freezer. Serve in individual dishes, topped with whipped cream.
CHAMPAGNE GRAPEFRUIT SORBET
3 c. good quality Champagne
1 c. sugar
1-1/4 c. water
1 c. pink grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
1/3 c. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Pop cork from champagne bottle 1 to 2 hours before using. Gradually pour champagne, allowing for foaming, into a 2-quart container; set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Stir until mixture comes to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand approximately 10 minutes or until cool. Add sugar syrup, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice to the champagne (do not strain pulp from juices.) Stir until thoroughly blended. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Ice Cream Maker - Transfer mixture to ice cream maker, process according to manufacturer's instructions.
Freezer Method - Pour into container, cover, and place mixture in the freezer. When it is semi-solid, mash it up with a fork and refreeze again. When frozen, place in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Cover and refreeze until serving time.
NOTE: Can be prepared 3 days in advance. Cover and keep frozen.
Granita is a frozen dessert made with water and a syrup base, much like sorbet. It is popular in Italy, and closely associated with Sicily in particular. In Italy, granita may be served at breakfast, with Italian brioche, or at any other time of the day. Many regions of Italy offer specially flavored granitas using seasonal fruits, or agricultural products unique to the area. Outside of Italy, granita is found in Italian communities, and it can also be made at home relatively easily.
Like many other frozen desserts, granita is probably related to sherbet, a Middle Eastern drink made with syrup, water, and ice. According to legends, granita was invented accidentally by a sherbet seller who left her wares on ice too long, causing the sherbet to turn into a block of highly granular ice. Whatever the origins of granita may be, the dessert is made by mixing water with a flavoring and then putting it into a freezer. Every hour or so, the granita mixture is pulled out of the freezer and stirred with a spatula, integrating all the crystals on the top back into the mixture. The result is a flaky, granular container of flavored ice. For cooks following along at home, granita can be easily made in a roasting pan, and plated in the kitchen so that no guests will guess at its humble origins.
In some regions, granita is made harder, and is designed to be shaved. It should not, however, be confused with shaved ice. Shaved ice is made by drizzling syrup or a flavoring over a dish of ice which has been shaved from a block. When making granita, the flavoring is mixed into the ice, and even when it is shaved, granita has a crackling crystalline structure which is quite distinctive in the mouth. While it might sound odd to eat dessert with breakfast, the combination of granita and breakfast pastry is actually quite refreshing.
Popular flavors for granita include coffee, bitter almond, lemon, mint, orange, and seasonal fruits and berries. The bitter almond granita made in Italy is unique, because it includes true bitter almonds, which have trace amounts of cyanide. Bitter almonds are not harmful, with careful processing, and they add a unique flavor to the foods they are used in. Many famous European foods with almonds, such as marzipan, have a distinctive flavor due to the use of bitter almonds. The lemons used in granita are also different, as they are smaller and sweeter, like Meyer lemons. Imagination is the only limit to granita flavorings, inside and outside of Italy
where I come from Granita's are a biscuit. So there you go, I've learned something new today
Granita is a semi-frozen dessert of sugar, water, and flavorings and is related to sorbet and italian ice. The desired texture seems to vary from city to city. Some places desire it at its chunkiest - and other places desire it as smooth as a sorbert.
Common flavoring ingredients include lemon juice, mandarin oranges, coffee, almonds, mint, and when in season wild strawberries and black mulberries, and chocolate .
It is a semi-frozen desert from Sicily made with sugar , water, and flavorings. Similar to sorbet and Italian ice. The differences vary mostly from region to region in Italy depending on the the crystalline texture of the ice.