Strawberry Rose Granita Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse strawberries with cold water; let drain. Transfer berries to a blender and add sugar, water, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and salt.
• Pulse several times to get the mixture moving, then blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into a large baking dish. Puree should only be about 3/8 inch deep in the dish.
• Place dish uncovered in the freezer until mixture barely begins to freeze around the edges, about 45 minutes. Mixture will still be slushy in the center.
• Lightly stir the crystals from the edge of the granita mixture into the center, using a fork, and mix thoroughly. Close freezer and chill until granita is nearly frozen, 30 to 40 more minutes. Mix lightly with a fork as before, scraping the crystals loose. Repeat freezing and stirring with the fork 3 to 4 times until the granita is light, crystals are separate, and granita looks dry and fluffy.
• Portion granita into small serving bowls to serve.

Steps:

• Thinly slice 6 small berries; set aside 6 more for garnish. Coarsely chop the rest and puree in a food processor with sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Add 1 3/4 cups cold water; pulse to combine. Pass mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; discard seeds. Let mixture stand 10 minutes. Skim and discard any surface foam. (You should have about 4 cups purée.)
• Sprinkle gelatin over 3 tablespoons cold water. Let stand 5 minutes. Heat 1/2 cup purée in a small saucepan over medium-high until warm to the touch. Add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved; then stir into 2 1/2 cups purée. Divide mixture among 6 heatproof glasses or shallow bowls. Add sliced strawberries, pushing them down into mixture. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or, covered, up to 2 days.
• In an 8-by-8-inch baking dish, mix together remaining 1 cup purée and rosé. Freeze 2 hours. Scrape with a fork. Freeze 1 hour and scrape again. Keep frozen; when ready to serve, scrape again.
• Slice strawberries reserved for garnish; divide among glasses. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons granita on top. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Put the hulled strawberries in a bowl and set aside. Cut off and discard the tops of the 12 large strawberries and trim the bottoms so that they sit upright. Use a small melon baller to scoop out the inside of each strawberry to make a small cup, adding the scooped flesh to the bowl with the hulled strawberries. Wrap and store the berry cups in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
• Combine the rose, sugar and bowl of strawberries and scooped flesh in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into an 8-inch square metal pan. Freeze 3 to 4 hours, scraping the mixture with a fork every hour to make it slushy. Wrap and freeze until ready to serve. The granita can be made a day ahead and stored overnight.
• Working in batches, remove the strawberry cups from the refrigerator and fill with a spoonful of the granita, mound some more on top and top with a sprig of mint. Store the assembled granita cups in the freezer while assembling the remaining cups to prevent them from melting.

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the sugar completely dissolves, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool, the mixture should be the consistency of maple syrup.
• Combine the strawberries and basil in a food processor and puree. Add the sugar mixture and pulse the machine to combine. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish, cover loosely with plastic wrap and freeze for about 2 hours.
• When the edges begin to harden, use the tines of a fork to scrape them into bits. Repeat the procedure in 1 to 2 hours, and then occasionally thereafter, until the mixture is frozen through in "shavings." Freeze overnight.
• Spoon the granita into serving dishes and garnish each with a basil leaf, then serve.

Steps:

• To make the sugar syrup, combine 3/4 cup water and 4 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
• Place half the strawberries in a blender with the sugar syrup, lemon juice, and vodka, if using. Puree. Transfer to a fine mesh sieve and press on puree, pushing the pulp through. Discard seeds remaining in sieve.
• Pour mixture into a shallow 8-inch square pan. Freeze 2 to 3 hours, or until almost completely frozen. Scrape granita with a fork to make it flaky. Freeze for another hour and scrape again. When ready to serve, scrape again.
• About 30 minutes before serving, quarter remaining strawberries lengthwise and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining tablespoon sugar, pepper, and vinegar; mash slightly with a fork, keeping mixture chunky. Add basil.
• To serve, scrape some granita into 4 glasses and top with smashed strawberries.

Steps:

• Stir first 3 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Blend 3 cups strawberries in processor until smooth. Add sugar syrup and blend until combined.
• Pour mixture into 13x9x2-inch nonstick metal baking pan. Freeze until icy around edges, about 25 minutes. Using fork, stir icy portions into middle of pan. Freeze until mixture is frozen, stirring edges into center every 20 to 30 minutes, about 1 1/2 hours. Using fork, scrape granita into flaky crystals. Cover tightly and freeze. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep frozen.) Scrape granita into bowls. Garnish with berries and serve.

Steps:

• Gently wash and hull strawberries, then place in a food processor.
• Process until pureed. It may be necessary to add a small amount of water to help blend the strawberries.
• Working in batches, press purée through a fine sieve to extract seeds (discard seeds). Note: I admit: I'm lazy and skip this step. I leave it for you to decide whether to remove the seeds or not.
• Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice and rose water into pureed strawberries. It should seem a little too sweet and a little too sharp; both tastes will be muted slightly when frozen.
• Pour the strawberry purée into a bowl or large tub; for best results, the mixture should be no deeper than about 1 inch.
• Freeze until solid, at least 1 hour.
• Remove from freezer 5 minutes before serving.
• Using a sturdy scoop or spoon, mound granita into *goblets and cap each with a trickle of cream. The cream will solidify, semifrozen, like a snowcap on a pink mountain.
• *I used fancy dessert glasses which were placed in the freezer and chilled to get that "frosted" effect.
• Garnish with lemon verbena or mint leaves.
• Very important: serve immediately.