Instructions: Every traditional Jewish cook relies on fruit desserts as a pareve finale for meat meals. In the summer, though, traditional desserts like compote and baked apples dont seem as appetizing-in fact, the mere thought of turning on the oven for a long simmer is unappealing. Granita, a grainy and intense-flavored frozen dessert, is the perfect summertime dessert solution: it requires no special equipment to make, is dairy-free, and contains none of the dairy substitutes in pareve ice cream that are loaded with saturated fat. Unlike ice creams and sorbets, which require trotting out the ice cream maker, making granita requires no specialized equipment and very little advance planning.

Granita (granite in French) is an Italian dessert thats similar to sorbet.

Whats the difference? Sorbet typically contains beaten egg whites to smooth out the texture and is best made in an ice cream maker, which by its churning action breaks ice crystals into tiny particles and creates a smooth mixture. In contrast, granita-the name is related to the word "granulate" in English-is frozen in a shallow pan and stirred occasionally-but only enough to make it scoopable. The resulting mixture contains ice crystals suspended in chilled liquid.

Dressed up, granita is elegant enough to serve at a dinner party-consider serving in demitasse cups or hollowed-out lemons. Fortunately, its also easy enough to make with kids.

Granitas are made by freezing a mixture of sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water) with fruit that has been pureed to remove chunks that become rock-solid when frozen. Making granita allows you to take advantage of summer produce and experiment with fruit flavor combinations. Mangoes, peaches, berries, watermelon-theyre all delicious when frozen in a refreshing granita. Claudia Roden, author of The Book of Jewish Food, notes that Sephardic Jews typically use oranges, melons, or apricots for granita. You can also use wine, coffee, tea, or citrus juice for granitas if you dont want to bother with preparing fruit.

To make granita
Fine Cooking notes that because fruits and wines all have different degrees of natural sweetness, tartness, and pectin (which helps bind the mixture together), its difficult, if not impossible, to standardize a recipe for granita. Some simple steps to follow:
Make a "simple syrup" composed of equal parts water and sugar. Try one cup of each. Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat slowly until sugar dissolves. Cool completely. If desired, you may flavor this simple syrup with spices: try a stick of cinnamon, a teaspoon of freshly-grated ginger, or a vanilla bean for additional flavor. Discard the flavorings (strain if necessary)

before proceeding.

Start with about three cups of fruit (whole if berries, chopped into bite-size pieces if melons) or three cups of liquid, such as lemonade, coffee, wine, or citrus juice.

If you are using fruit, whizz through the blender or mash thoroughly, then force through a sieve to extract seeds, skins, and pulp.

Slowly add the sugar syrup to the fruit mixture, tasting as you go until the mixture suits your palate.

Add lemon juice and a pinch of salt to taste.

Pour sugar and fruit mixture into a shallow, freezer-proof container or wide stainless steel bowl.

Freeze for about three hours, stirring every half hour to create a granular texture.

Before serving, rake the surface of the granita with a fork to create a fluffy texture.

Some tips to remember when making granita:

For some reason, foods taste less sweet when frozen. Before you pop your granita mixture into the freezer, make sure its a tiny bit sweeter than you would normally prefer.

If the granita becomes frozen too solid to scoop, scrape it into a blender and process until it softens. Serve immediately. The next time you make granita using the same ingredients, remember to add a bit more sugar or some alcohol to the mixture-both disrupt the crystalline structure or ice and make it more difficult to freeze completely, resulting in a softer texture. Conversely, if your granita is too soft, add more water to the mixture before freezing, or reduce sugar and alcohol content.

Granita is best when served soon after its made, and does not keep well. If you would like to make a batch in advance, consider a tip from cookbook author

Claudia Roden: Freeze the granita in ice cube trays. Before serving, place several of the granita cubes in the blender and process until spoonable.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.