What is granita, and do you need a machine to make it?

Granita is summer in a glass. Cold, bright, barely sweet, it is the thing to eat in the shade of a bar in Sicily while the street outside shimmers. And unlike most frozen desserts, it needs nothing more than a freezer and a fork.

What it is

Wikipedia's granita entry describes it as a dessert of sweetened liquid flavoured with lemon, coffee or fruit juice, stirred while freezing to produce a soft mixture of many tiny ice crystals. It is originally from Sicily and is now found across Italy in different forms.

The texture varies around the island. The same source notes that on the west coast and in Palermo it is at its chunkiest, while in the east it is nearly as smooth as sorbet. In Messina, it adds, the creamy style is served with a brioche (brioscia col tuppo) and traditionally eaten for breakfast.

Granita versus sorbet

Both are frozen, sweetened liquids. The difference is mostly texture.

• Sorbet is churned continuously, often in a machine, to keep the ice crystals tiny. It is smooth, dense and scoopable.
• Granita is stirred or scraped at intervals as it freezes, so the crystals are larger. Depending on the style, it ranges from coarse, crunchy flakes to a soft, spoonable slush.

Neither is better. A coarse granita is more refreshing on a hot afternoon; a sorbet is more polished for the end of a dinner.

Making it with a fork

• Make the base. Sweeten your liquid with sugar or a simple syrup, stirring until dissolved. Taste it: it should be a little sweeter and stronger than you would want to drink, because cold dulls flavour.
• Pour it into a shallow tray or a wide dish. Shallow freezes faster and is easier to scrape. Metal works best.
• Freeze until the edges are icy. Then drag a fork through, pulling the frozen edges into the liquid middle.
• Repeat. Every so often, scrape and stir again, breaking up any clumps. The more often you scrape, the finer the crystals.
• Stop when it is all fluffy ice crystals. Serve straight away, or cover and give it a quick scrape before serving.

If it freezes into a solid block, let it soften for a moment, then scrape it into flakes. No harm done.

Getting the sweetness right

Sugar does more than sweeten: it also keeps the granita soft. Too little and it sets hard as an ice cube; too much and it never freezes properly. Taste the base and trust your tongue. If it tastes pleasantly too sweet at room temperature, it will be right frozen.

Flavours to try

• Lemon. The classic. Lemon juice, a little zest, sugar and water.
• Coffee. Strong espresso, sweetened, ideally with a spoonful of whipped cream on top.
• Almond. Made with almond milk; very Sicilian.
• Fruit. Watermelon, peach, strawberries, mulberries or blood orange, puréed and strained.
• Herbal. Lemon with mint or basil steeped in the syrup.

Serving it the Sicilian way

Granita for breakfast, with a soft brioche to dunk, is one of life's great ideas. At home, any soft sweet bun works. Otherwise, serve it in chilled glasses after a summer lunch, or between courses on a long dinner. See our Italian breakfast page for the rest of the morning.