I think I can confidently proclaim my adulthood. I marked the occasion by putting childish tastes aside (snow cones/sno cones); replacing them with a more adult palate (granitas). Three to be exact - Apricot Bourbon, Chocolate Malt and Lemongrass Rum.
Who am I kidding? I could never give up my childhood loves - copious amounts of popsicles and resulting brain freeze, unnaturally coloured snow cones that transform my lips and tongue into psychedelic rainbows, abandoning all layers of clothing to cartwheel through the sprinklers of strangers' lawns (maybe not so much these days...).
When we were little, a snow cone cart would come around in the summers at my grandparents and we would run out in the sweltering heat wearing superhero or day-of-the-week undies and less often a matching tank top. Always in a race, loose change slipping through our tiny fingers, screaming for the flamboyantly dressed cart pusher to come to a halt. The excitement was just...BEYOND! Oddly, I have never felt this way about ice cream trucks... I am totally creeped out by them, for so many irrational reasons. Anyone else feel this way?
So, GRANITA (said with a rolling tongue)! I've only made it a couple times before, using red wine. You know me, in the realm of frozen desserts, I fancy myself more a popsicle lover (a sucker, if you will). 🙂 What I love about granita is the ease with which they can be made and in a pretty vast variety of flavours. It is basically a semi-frozen mixture of sugar, water and flavouring that is agitated (shaved or scraped) to create the delicious, refreshing little flavoured ice crystals.
The Apricot Bourbon started out as ice cubes and then pulsed briefly in a blender. The Chocolate Malt was frozen in a shallow dish and intermittently agitated (scraped with a fork) throughout the freezing time. The Lemongrass Rum was fully frozen in a shallow dish before being scraped. Each technique yielded varied results - smooth flaky-ish crystals, coarse irregular crystals, smooth uniformed crystals, respectively. They were all very tasty, with the Chocolate Malt yielding the preferred texture.
It really does not get any simpler - a container, a fork, a freezer and your favourite fresh fruit, juice or drink - to bring a little chill to these sweltering summer days. You can also put the freeze on summer with some of my other Frozen Desserts.
Until next time...CHILL!
Ingredients
Lemongrass Rum
- 250 ml carbonated water 1 cup
- 180 ml homemade lemongrass syrup ¾ cup
- 30 ml white rum 2 tbsps
Apricot Bourbon
- 250 ml water 1 cup
- 195 ml apricot nectar ¾ cup
- 30 ml bourbon 2 tbsps
Chocolate Malt
- semi-sweet chocolate melted
- 350 ml bottle of malt beverage I used Tiger malt
Instructions
Lemongrass Rum
- Stir all ingredients together in a shallow metal or plastic dish.
- Cover and freeze for 3 hours.
- Use a fork to scrape the mixture.
- Scoop into a small cup or bowl and top with fresh mint or candied ginger.
Apricot Bourbon
- Stir all ingredients together in a shallow metal or plastic dish.
- Pour into ice-cube trays and freeze for 3-5 hours.
- Remove from freezer and tray and pulse in a food high-powered processor or blender.
- Scoop into bowl and top with fresh mint.
Chocolate Malt
- Place chocolate in a microwave-safe dish and melt in 20-second intervals.
- Allow to cool, but not harden.
- Add room temperature malt to the chocolate and stir with a whisk until combined.
- Stir all ingredients together in a shallow metal or plastic dish.
- Cover and freeze.
- Use a fork to scrape the mixture after the first hour and then again every thirty minutes.
- Scoop into a small cup or bowl and enjoy!
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