Maybe it's comfortably warm somewhere but here, it's a yo-yo weather for us. A couple of months ago we had unseasonably few warm, 80's days; but then when May came, the rain was back and people grudgingly took blankets to sleep again. Now that summer has come, the weather is still--yawn--not that great. The only consolation is that summer fruits will still come in time, like strawberries, local cherries, peaches, and many more. Interesting how nature has its own timetable.
I'm not going to wait till the warm weather to come. When I think of summer desserts, granitas come to mind because they're easy to make and don't require the oven to be turned on. Fruit-based granitas are always refreshing to have at the end of any meal, and what I love about them is that they're also quite low-fat.
This recipe first appeared in last year's summer edition of Indulge magazine by Zupan's Market.
Melon Granita
Serves 6
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
3 cups chilled 1-inch cubes peeled, seeded cantaloupe
¼ cup dry, fruity white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc, optional
2 tablespoons lime juice
Lime zest for garnish
Place sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat; stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer 1 minute. Let syrup cool.
Place cooled syrup with cantaloupe cubes, white wine, if using, and lime juice in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Pour mixture into an 8x8x2-inch glass dish then cover it.
Freeze mixture until thoroughly frozen, about 4 hours, stirring with fork every 1 hour.
Before serving, scrape granite with a fork into icy flakes. Spoon about 2 rounded tablespoons granite into each of 6 glasses. Garnish with lime zest.
:( Seeing this today was like getting a visit from an old friend/neighbor. I have been making melon granitas for a while now because of a friend who passed away on this day in 96'. She introduced me to honeydew popsicles at an Asian market down the street from where we lived. They were awesome, but a few years later, they stopped selling them and I never saw them anywhere else. Having grown up eating my fair share of Italian Ice, rather than making my own popsicles, I decided to go with the granita. Thanks for the reminder - the temps are really heating up in my neck of the woods this week, so a granita would be very timely ... and thanks for the smile of seeing this while having my friend DeDe in mind today. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, thanks for stopping by and leaving comments. I'm sorry about your friend; sometimes food will do that to us, bring back good memory. Hope the granita will cheer you up!
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