Granita

A syrup frozen without a machine and raked with a fork into coarse crystals.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 350 ml water
• 150 g caster sugar
• 200 ml lemon juice, from about 6 lemons
• pared zest of 1 lemon
• a pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat the water with the sugar, salt and pared zest until the sugar dissolves, then take it off and leave it to infuse 20 minutes.
2. Strain, add the lemon juice, and chill.
3. Pour into a shallow metal tray, 2 cm deep at most. A deep container freezes into a solid lump.
4. RAKE IT WITH A FORK EVERY 30 MINUTES, dragging the frozen edges into the middle. Four or five times over three hours.
5. THERE IS NO CHURNING HERE, and that is the entire difference from gelato. Nothing beats air in and nothing keeps the crystals small — the raking deliberately builds them, and coarse crystals that crunch are the point.
6. Serve the moment the last raking is done, in chilled glasses. It compacts within the hour.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes