This granita might be THE best way to enjoy champagne (or a good bottle of prosecco). It's light and refreshing, and fruity. And since New Year's celebrations call for a bubbly of some sort, I decided to share this with you. Granita is so pretty and festive. If you like this sort of dessert, try this watermelon granita.

This is super easy to make. And, if you are panicking to find a last minute New Year's dessert that tastes and looks nothing like a last minute New Year's dessert, then this is it! It's elegant if you serve it in pretty goblets, and it takes 5 minutes to make the raspberry syrup base. Then, you just cool the syrup, mix with champagne and freeze it for an hour before stirring. The hardest part after that is remembering to set the timer every 30 minutes to stir.

Serve it with leftover Christmas cookies or some simple shortbread.

Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma.

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Raspberry Champagne Granita

Granita is very easy. For this champagne granita, you need to make a raspberry syrup base. Then, you just cool the syrup, mix with champagne and freeze it for an hour before stirring and scraping. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 212kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 375 mL water
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 20 frozen raspberries or strawberries or blackberries
• 750 mL chilled champagne or prosecco
• 15 mL fresh lemon juice

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, mix the water, sugar, and raspberries. Heat on high, mashing the raspberries so that they infuse the syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil, then take it off the heat and strain it into a large heatproof bowl. Chill for 1 hour or until completely cooled.
• Combine the raspberry syrup (all of it) with the bubbly and lemon juice. Transfer to a 9×13″ Pyrex and freeze for 1 hour.
• Stir the slushy granita base with a fork, scraping down the sides and mashing any big clumps of ice. Put the pan back in the freezer, stirring it every 30 minutes.
• Continue stirring and freezing for about 2 hours or until you have what looks like shaved ice. Keep the granita frozen until you are ready to serve

Nutrition

Calories: 212kcal

The post Raspberry Champagne Granita appeared first on The Bake School.

Did you know you can buy watermelon at the grocery store in the fall and winter months too? Grey skies and really big life-changing decisions call for something bright, colourful, cheery and a little festive, just like watermelon with its vibrant pink flesh and green rind. I actually had a hankering for a creamsicle when I thought up this dessert combination. So I came up with a more sophisticated version: watermelon granita "ice" and lime white chocolate pots de crème.

Ingredients

Substitutions and Variations

• Ginger: add fresh ginger when making the syrup to infuse this granita with spicy ginger flavour
• Citrus: use lemons, limes, or oranges in this frozen dessert, but always use fresh lemons or limes for the best flavour!

How to Make Watermelon Granita

Granita is so easy! And you can make it from any juice! Here's how to make it:

Step 1: Combine watermelon juice with other ingredients then transfer to a shallow baking dish with a rim (image 1). My dish is 9x13-inches (23-x33-cm).

Step 2: Freeze for 2 hours until semi-solid (image 2).

Step 3: Use a fork to break up the ice and/or scrape at it with a fork. Repeat the freezing and scraping steps every few hours until the mixture is granular (image 3).

Serving Suggestions

If you tried this recipe for watermelon granita (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Watermelon Granita

This watermelon granita recipe is light and healthy. It tastes great on its own and you can also serve it with creamy white chocolate pots de crème.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 207kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 125 mL water
• 15 mL lime zest
• 1 kg seedless watermelon cubed
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 60 mL tequila I like Cazadores

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and lime zest with the water until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a blender (I used this this Cuisinart food processor I bought on Amazon), blend together the syrup with the watermelon, lime juice, and tequila.
• Strain the mixture and then pour into a 9x13 deep dish that can go in the freezer (like this one on Amazon).
• Freeze the juice mixture for 2 hours, then stir/scrape with a fork. Freeze for another hour, stir/scrape with a fork. Repeat until you have a granular watermelon granita.
• Store in the freezer, covered, until you are ready to serve. Serve the watermelon granita as is or over the white chocolate pots de crème (see recipe below).

Notes

• Makes 4 cups of granita approximately
• Feel free to use more lime juice and less water, and play with the ratio of watermelon to sugar and lime juice to get the flavour you want.
• Beware of using too much alcohol as alcohol will lower the freezing point and too much may result in the granita not freezing properly or melting too fast.
• Initially, it will take a long time to partially freeze this volume of juice, but then as you repeat the process, you will need less and less time between scraping to get the right granular texture.
• Flavour variations: 
  • Citrus: this works with oranges, lemons, or limes
  • Ginger: infuse the syrup with a little fresh ginger, grated!

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 285mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 1424IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

For more great watermelon recipes, be sure to check out the watermelon.org website.

This post is sponsored by the National Watermelon Promotion Board for their #EatMoreWatermelon campaign.

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