My favorite season is over. Soon it will be time for “the move”: summer clothes will go into storage, while long sleeves, sweaters and coats will return to my closet. My sandals will be gone, and with them the nice tan on my feet… The poor babies will be hiding in socks and shoes for months!
To say goodbye to Summer, I picked a yellow watermelon and turned it into granita. Watermelon is my beloved’s favorite fruit. His ritual is to sit on the couch with a huge slice dangerously balancing on a plate, and our dogs locked into full begging mode close by. The dogs are watermelon maniacs; they can smell it from several rooms away.
Granita is a refreshing classic, conveying the essence of Summer’s bliss with each spoonful.
WATERMELON GRANITA
Make a simple syrup
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Heat until sugar is completely dissolved; cool to room temperature.
Make the fruit juice
Watermelon pieces
1 T lemon juice
pinch of salt
Juice the watermelon (easier if using seedless fruit, but we prefer to buy the regular kind). Measure the amount, you will need a minimum of 3 cups.
For three cups of juice, add the full amount of simple syrup made, the lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
Make the granita:
Pour the mixture in a glass baking dish, 9×13 inches, or 8×8 inches. Depending on how thick the layer is, the longer it will take to freeze. Place it in the freezer, and every half an hour (or 45 minutes, depending on the size and shape of your dish), scrape it with a fork to destroy the ice crystals forming on the edges, then place it back in the freezer. Do this several times, maybe 4 or 5 times, until the mixture is completely frozen. It will take from 3 to 6 hours.
To serve, scrape the frozen granita with the tines of a fork into a serving bowl. Decorate with mint (which you can also add to the juice, I normally do that, but forgot this time), and….
ENJOY!
To print the recipe, click here.
Bewitching Kitchen 