Best Hearty Tarty Hibiscus Granita Recipes

BERRY-MINT GRANITAS

Steps:

• Remove lemon zest in 1- to 2-inch sections using a vegetable peeler, avoiding the bitter white pith. Squeeze and reserve 2 teaspoons of juice.
• Stir lemon zest, water, sugar, and mint together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let cool, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove and discard lemon zest and mint.
• Process blueberries and raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl with chilled syrup; discard seeds. Stir in reserved lemon juice.
• Pour berry mixture into a 9x13-inch baking pan. Cover and freeze until edges are slushy, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir with a metal spoon, scraping frozen mixture off bottom and sides of pan. Cover and freeze, stirring every 30 minutes, until mixture is slushy, about 3 hours more. Cover and freeze until firm, 4 to 24 hours more.
• Let stand and soften slightly at room temperature, 5 to 10 minutes. Scrape surface of granita with a fork and spoon into chilled dessert dishes.

CITRUS-GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Stir water, sugar, ginger, lemon zest, and lime zest together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbling, 5 to 10 minutes; cool slightly.
• Stir the ginger mixture an orange juice together in a pitcher; pour into a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Place dish in the freezer; scrape and stir orange juice mixture with a fork once every hour until granita is evenly frozen and crystallized, about 6 hours.

HIBISCUS GRANITA

Steps:

• Pour the iced tea into ice cube trays and freeze overnight. (The recipe can be made up to this point and kept frozen up to 3 days in advance.)
• When ready to serve, turn the ice cubes into a food processor fitted with a metal blade or a powerful blender. Pulse the machine until the granita has the texture of crushed ice.

RED APRICOT AND SPARKLING WINE GRANITA

Steps:

• Mix sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved completely, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, wash, pit, and mince apricots.
• Add the minced apricots to the sugar and water mixture. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until the apricots have liquefied, stirring and mashing constantly. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Pour Prosecco into the cooled apricot mixture; it will bubble and double in volume. Gently stir until fully incorporated and the bubbles have reduced slightly.
• Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and cover. Freeze until mixture begins to solidify, 1 to 2 hours, depending on your freezer. Scrape down the sides and mix the granita using a fork. Repeat every 30 minutes until the granita has become course and grainy, about 6 hours. Do not shake the container instead of scraping it with a fork; it is the action of scraping that forms the characteristic crystals that make granita unique.
• Scrape the granita into 8 serving dishes using a large spoon. Top with pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

MOJITO LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
• Combine sugar, lime zest, and mint in a medium bowl. Rub together with your fingers until moist and fragrant. Add lime juice and rum; whisk until dissolved. Whisk in yogurt, oil, and eggs.
• Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Slowly add the wet ingredients, mixing until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Tent loaf with foil if it starts browning too quickly.
• Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack set over a baking sheet.
• Prepare the glaze while the loaf is cooling. Whisk powdered sugar, lime juice, and mint leaves in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until glaze is smooth and mint has wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in rum until completely combined.
• Strain glaze into a measuring cup with a spout, pressing against the mint leaves to extract as much flavor as possible. Let sit until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Pour the glaze over the cooling cake, letting excess drip down the sides. Let loaf cool and glaze firm up before slicing.