Slushies For The Grownups

This summer we plan to spend long, languid evenings on the patio indulging in our favourite semi-frozen dessert.

EASY & AWESOME | While the soul-satisfying creaminess of ice cream makes it a great comfort treat any time of the year, coarse and crystalline granita is the more refreshing, energizing ice dessert for long, hot summer days.

Granita, a granulated ice dish with Italian and Middle Eastern roots (click here for The Atlantic backgrounder), is concocted from just three ingredients: fresh fruit, sugar and water. It could not be simpler to make.

I can purée a freezer-ready batch of granita in my Nutribullet in less than two minutes. Then, two hours and several fork rakings later (watch this Martha Stewart video for an explanation), my icy creation will be ready to scoop and consume.

When local strawberries are in season, as they are right now, strawberry granita is all I want to eat. When they’re over, I make room for two other favourites: lemon and espresso granita.

One thing I’ve noticed about granita recipes is that many of them call for a lot of sugar (too much sugar can override the delicate flavour of fruit). You will want to play around with this ingredient until you find the amount that you prefer.

HERE are my favourite links to great recipes for strawberry, lemon and espresso granita, plus some clever (and boozy) variations from Saveur. Enjoy. —Carolann Rule