Strawberry Granita

All I can say is, “It’s hot outside!” The mercury is rising and icy, strawberry granita is light and cold; just what I need to cool off on these hot summer days.

Earlier this month, I made a sparkling raspberry lemonade pressé with fresh lemons and raspberries. It was the perfect summer drink, and I loved that because it was homemade, I could sweeten it with stevia and choose organic berries, free of chemicals and pesticides. As the days grow more humid here, my kids have been eating more ice cream. The pressé gave me the idea to make a healthy frozen dessert for them instead with fresh berries! I decided on a strawberry granita, a dessert originally from Sicily, similar to snow cones and Italian ice. My version is made with organic strawberries and stevia for a refreshingly fun dessert without a drop of sugar.

This summer has been unusually busy. In the past, my family looked forward to summer as a break from the year-long homeschooling schedule. Now, however, nearly all the children are graduated and busy with their own schedules.

All the more reason why my family appreciated this fruity treat today. While I savored the delicious icy granita crystals melting in my mouth, I looked around at my children’s faces. They were just as delighted as I was to take a break from work to cool off with this wonderful treat.

Granita is so quick to mix together, and then you just have to return to the freezer every now and then to scrape the crystals as they form. I didn’t mind at all because it was a particularly hot day, and it was wonderful every time I opened that freezer and felt the gush of cool air.

In order to preserve as much of the fruit as possible, hull the berries with a paring knife. Remove the stems and core beneath the cap by inserting the tip of a paring knife on an angle into the core. Then rotate the knife and fruit in opposite directions until the core is released.

Bring water and stevia to a simmer. Stir so that the stevia dissolves completely. Then let it cool to room temperature. Place the strawberries in your blender. Add the sweetened water (syrup) and lemon juice and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan, cover and place in the freezer. And that’s it; only 3 ingredients plus water.

After 40 minutes scrape the icy crystals that have formed on the edges into the middle of the pan with a fork. Repeat this every hour for the next 4-6 hours. You want to stir often to avoid chunks of ice from forming. An icy sorbet-like consistency is what you want.

I have left my strawberry granita in the freezer overnight. Then I used the fork to scrape it up again before serving.

This really was love at first taste. After just one spoonful, all my son Michael wanted to know was when I would be making delicious frozen strawberry granita again! Go ahead and make strawberry granita this week. There’s a smile and a taste of summer in every spoonful.

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Strawberry Granita

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Freeze 4-6 hours, scraping frozen crystals with a fork after the first 40 minutes and each hour after that.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 8 packs of Stevia
• 16 ounces of. organic strawberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh-squeezed from a lemon

Instructions

1. Rinse strawberries. Then hull the berries with a paring knife. Remove the stems and core beneath the cap by inserting the tip of the paring knife on an angle into the core. Then rotate the knife and fruit in opposite directions until the core is released.
2. Bring water and stevia to a simmer. Stir so that the stevia dissolves completely. Then let it cool to room temperature.
3. Place the strawberries in your blender. Add the sweetened water and lemon juice and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour mixture into 9 x 13 baking pan, cover and place in the freezer.
4. After 40 minutes, scrape the icy crystals into middle of pan with a fork. Repeat this every hour for the next 4-6 hours. You want to stir often to avoid chunks of ice from forming. An icy sorbet-like consistency is what you want. To serve, spoon into chilled dessert dishes.

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