Best Cucumber Anise Granita Recipes

CUCUMBER-LIME GRANITA

Steps:

• Line shallow dish with parchment paper. In 2-quart saucepan, beat sugar and water with whisk until blended. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until mixture becomes a thin syrup. Cool.
• Remove most of peel from cucumbers. With spoon, scoop out seeds. Chop cucumber into cubes.
• In blender, place cucumbers, lime juice and syrup. Cover; blend until smooth. Pour into dish. Cover; freeze 2 to 3 hours or until completely frozen.
• Rake fork through mixture. Serve immediately, or return granita to freezer until ready to serve.

CUCUMBER AQUAVIT GRANITA

Steps:

• Coarsely chop enough of cucumbers to measure 4 1/2 cups and purée in a blender with remaining ingredients in 2 batches until smooth. Pour into an 8- to 9-inch baking pan.
• Freeze, stirring and crushing lumps with a fork every hour, until evenly frozen, about 4 hours total. Scrape with a fork to lighten texture, crushing any lumps.
• Serve immediately or freeze, covered, up to 3 days (rescrape to lighten texture again if necessary).

CUCUMBER GRANITA

Steps:

• Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut the cucumbers into chunks.
• Puree the cucumbers in a blender (or use an immersion blender) with the lemon juice, onion, green pepper, salt, mint, oil and water. This makes about 2 1/2 cups puree.
• Pour the cucumber puree into two 9-inch metal cake pans. Freeze.
• To serve, remove the granita from freezer 5 minutes before serving. Use a fork to scrape the ice into mounds. Add the scraped ice to the gazpacho immediately before serving. Or use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to make small balls of granita to garnish cocktails, cold soup or just as a palate cleanser.

CUCUMBER, MEYER LEMON AND LAVENDER GRANITA

Steps:

• In a blender, blend the Meyer lemon juice and cucumber together, creating cucumber water. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove any seeds.
• Place 1/2 cup water into a saucepan and add the sugar and lavender. Bring the mixture to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and infuse the simple syrup with the lavender flavor. Then set aside to cool.
• Once the syrup is cool, remove the lavender sprigs and mix the syrup into the cucumber water. Add in the Meyer lemon zest and then pour the mixture into a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Place the dish into the freezer to chill. Every 30 minutes, scrape the mixture with a fork to break up the ice crystals and to keep it light and fluffy. Continue scraping every 30 minutes for at least 2 hours.
• Scrape the granita into elegant glasses and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

CUCUMBER AND SAKE GRANITA

Steps:

• In a blender, purée the sugar and 1/4 cup water on high for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides, let rest for a minute and then purée again for 30 seconds.
• Add the cucumbers, melon, lime juice, sake and a pinch of salt. Purée the mixture until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large baking dish. Freeze the mixture. Scrape with a fork until light and fluffy, like fresh snow. Serve in small bowls or glasses, topped with a light sprinkle of sea salt and shiso leaf.