It’s a beautiful day in South Florida.
Hot, yes, but sunny and not terribly humid. I started this fine Sunday off
playing tennis, and after about an hour of batting the ball around I resembled
a half-drowned water rat (not a good look, in case you were unsure). But after
a quick shower, I was revived and ready to whip up
something sweet and
refreshing. Given the weather, granita came to mind, but I wanted something a
little more indulgent – something more like a snowcone on steroids. I ultimately
decided to pair a fresh strawberry granita with vanilla ice cream in a simple parfait
as a play on strawberries and cream. The result reminds
me of a Good Humor
Strawberry Shortcake bar, but, of course, much better (as it’s actually made
with real ingredients). You can use homemade ice cream or a good quality store
bought – I used Haagen Daaz, which I think is really excellent. Another good
option for the granite flavor is orange (think creamsicle) or Campari
Grapefruit, a more sophisticated combination.
Makes 6 servings
Strawberry
Granita:
1 lb/454 g fresh local strawberries,
washed, hulled and cut in half
¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (118 g) water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Assembly:
1 pint vanilla ice cream (homemade or
store-bought)
Make
the Strawberry Granita:
1. Toss the strawberries with the sugar
and let them macerate at room temperature for 1 ½ hours, until they have
released their juices.
2. Add the water and lemon juice and
transfer the mixture to a blender; blend until smooth. Strain through a fine
mesh sieve. Pour the mixture into a shallow plastic container that measure
about 8 x 12 inches. Freeze for about an hour.
3. Remove the container from the freezer
and, using a fork, scrape any frozen parts of the mixture from the edges into
the center, breaking up any large frozen pieces. Return the container to the
freezer and continue to scrape as before every half hour, until you have
nothing but flaky crystals of strawberry goodness.
Assemble
the parfaits:
4. Let the vanilla ice cream stand at
room temperature for 10 minutes to soften.
5. Spoon the ice cream into 6 glasses,
diving it evenly and smoothing the tops. Freeze for 30 minutes.
6. Right before serving, spoon the
granite on top of the ice cream in each glass.
