When it’s too hot even for ice-cream, the icy shards of granita come into their own. Marcella Hazan describes the coffee variety as one of the best ways to while away a sunny afternoon, “watching life dawdle by as you let the … crystals melt on the tongue”. More refreshing than an espresso, and with a similar kick, it’s the ultimate summer pick-me-up.
Coffee granita
Prep 15 min
Cook 5 min
Freeze About 2 hr
Serves 4
40g ground espresso coffee (see step 1)
40g caster sugar
½ tbsp lemon juice
200ml whipping cream (optional)
2 tbsp icing sugar (optional)
A square of dark chocolate (optional)
1 A word on the coffee
In truth, you can use any sort of coffee you want here (decaf included), so long as you make it strong enough to retain its flavour once diluted and frozen. The method I adopt, used by the gelateria at the Gran Caffé Tirreno in Formia, Lazio, is the easiest, but feel free to use 500ml freshly brewed espresso or 500ml strong instant coffee instead, and start at step 3.
2 Make the coffee
If using ground espresso, put it in a medium pan with 500ml cold water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then take off the heat and leave to sit for about five minutes. Pour through coffee filters, a fine sieve or a sheet of muslin to strain.
3 Add sugar, cool, then add lemon
While the coffee is still hot, stir in the sugar, until it dissolves. Leave it to cool, then add the lemon juice and taste: flavours are muted by freezing, so it will probably seem far too sweet at this stage. Given that these quantities provide the balance that suits my taste, if it’s not to yours, by all means add more sugar (or, in any subsequent batch, less).
4 Leave to cool, then chill
Pour the cooled coffee mix into a wide, freezer-proof dish that will accommodate it at a depth of no more than a couple of centimetres (any deeper and it will take a long time to freeze). Put the dish in the fridge to chill. In the meantime, make sure you have room in the freezer for the dish to sit completely flat.
5 Freeze, stir, repeat
Transfer the dish to the freezer for 45 minutes, then check on it. As soon as it’s starting to freeze around the edges, stir with a fork, mixing the solid ice around the outside into the liquid centre. Return the dish to the freezer and repeat about every half-hour, raking the mixture until it’s all frozen like coffee snow. This should take about two hours in total.
6 It’s now ready to serve …
Once the whole thing is a fluffy cloud of ice crystals, serve it immediately, or keep it in the freezer, raking it up regularly (or even pulsing briefly in a food processor to break it up before serving). Granita is best eaten within a couple of days, though.
7 … or add cream and chocolate
Whip the cream and icing sugar, if using, to soft peaks. Spoon the granita into four glasses and top each serving with a dollop of the whipped cream mix and a grating of dark chocolate. In Sicily, granita is often served with a sweet brioche bun, which makes a fine breakfast on a hot day.
8 … or alcohol
To make a boozy granita for after dinner (or whenever), stir in up to 100ml coffee liqueur or other alcohol when you add the lemon juice to the coffee mix, though bear in mind that the higher the alcohol content, the softer and slushier the set will be, so go easy if you’re using spirits; you can always serve the granita with a shot on the side, if need be.
9 … or spices
For a mocha granita, add 50g cocoa powder to the ground coffee at the start. Or, to spice things up, add two crushed cardamom pods and/or a broken cinnamon stick, a grating of nutmeg, citrus zest or a dash of vanilla extract. Brown sugar will give richer, caramelised notes, while honey or maple and other syrups will lend their own flavour.
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June 28, 2023 at 05:00PM
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How to make coffee granita – recipe - The Guardian
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