My OperaPink Limeade Granita
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:25:37 AM
It's late Summer, here in Brazil. Not that this means too much... It's always melting hot, here, no matter whether it's Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall... We must be always ready to be hot.
But things can't be all that bad. Not after I have got my new Ice Cream Maker, which my sis brought me from US. Yup, you've read it right, I have a new Ice Cream Maker! And what's best: It doesn't need prior Freezing the bowl! In other words, I can freeze a batch of Ice Cream just anytime I feel like, now!
Or in much better (or funnier) words, I have some Ice Cream!.
Very well... I decided to use my new Ice Cream Maker with another frozen treat, much more appropriate for this insane summer: Granita. I have already made a Tagerine Granita, here, as well as my Gelinho, wich is similar, though not shattered in small particles.
But things can't be all that bad. Not after I have got my new Ice Cream Maker, which my sis brought me from US. Yup, you've read it right, I have a new Ice Cream Maker! And what's best: It doesn't need prior Freezing the bowl! In other words, I can freeze a batch of Ice Cream just anytime I feel like, now!
Or in much better (or funnier) words, I have some Ice Cream!.
Very well... I decided to use my new Ice Cream Maker with another frozen treat, much more appropriate for this insane summer: Granita. I have already made a Tagerine Granita, here, as well as my Gelinho, wich is similar, though not shattered in small particles.
For those who don't remember, or haven't had the oportunity to read the other post, I'll explain a little bit about Granitas. These are frozen treats, substitutes to Ice Creams, which are heavily consumed in Italy, and even more intensively in the southern part of the "boot". It's basically made by freezing some sweetened fruit juice, breaking the ice cristals every 40 or 60 minutes, while it's freezing, so you don't let it freeze rock-hard. It's texture should end up similar to shreded flavored Ice. Add some liquor to the mixture, both to add flavor, color and alcohol. The last one is helpful to keep your granita from freezing too hard, too.Also, because of the alcohol, your Granita will be intensely colder, even while it's starting to defreeze (what should happen somewhere between -10ºC or -15ºC, instead of the normal 0ºC). Check out the picture and you'll get what I mean, just by looking at the glass... Man, that was cold, when I was having it at home... "My teeth!" was the only thing I could think of, after the first bite... Poor me..
Ah, by the way, lemme explain one thing here: It's not real pink limeade... I followed David Lebovitz's book for a traditional Lime Sorbet (I'll explain about this in some other post), and as the alcohol ingredient, I was supposed to add some sparkling wine or Champagne. All I had was some rosé sparkling wine, so that's how I would need to make it work out. Therefore, my final result was as pretty pink as pink limeade!
To serve, top it with some red fruit jam, or compote, to enhance its flavor. Ah, and this recipe turns to be slightly more sour than sweet Lime Granita, so, if you prefer, you could reduce the lime juice (to something around 120ml, or 150ml) and increase sugar (maybe 200g should do). And last (but not least), if you think it's too cold, or too sour, as I thought of mine, you could add a nice dollop of whipped cream, or Chantilly, just as traditional Italians do. I made the same with mine, but only after I had already gone to my room to eat it (huh... No, I don't have whipped cream in my room, I went back to the kitchen), so, sorry for the bad picture and bad lighting... Heheheh
Pink Limeade Granita
Adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop
Yelds about 1 liter / quart
560ml Water
150g white sugar
Zest of one lime (preferably unsprayed)
180ml Lime juice
60ml sparkling rosé wine
In a saucepan, pour in 250ml water, 150g sugar and the lime zest. Heat it stirring frequently, until the sugar completely dissolves.
Remove from heat and add the remaining 270ml water. Chill it for a couple of hours.
Then, add the 180ml Lime Juice, and the 60ml Sparkling wine. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Unregistered user # Tuesday, March 10, 2009 8:25:16 PM
Thiago Bauer CiorraBauer1 # Thursday, March 12, 2009 2:35:21 AM
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