Memories are curious devices. They leap to a time and place moments after seeing a familiar color or inhaling a long forgotten scent. A solitary wrinkled lemon perched on a windowsill in Jaisalmer, India brought back reminisces of sultry summer afternoons sitting by another window in Siena, Italy. The bells of the campanile heaved through the torrid shimmering air, their husky tones dimmed to torpid beats. I held a glass of lemon-gold granita in my clammy hands, the crushed ice crackling in dulcet tones. Thinking back to that summer in Siena everything appears enveloped in a steamy haze except for the tangy flavor of ice shavings I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Here is our spin on the tempting treat.
BT’s ORANGE GRANITA RECIPE
Serves 6 Total Time: 20 Minutes Preparation + 3 hours freezing
WHAT YOU NEED
4 cups pulp-free orange juice
1 cup limoncello
½ cup simple syrup
2 tablespoons ginger zest
6 lime peels
8 x 12 inch shallow tempered glass dish
Multi-speed blender/liquidizer
WHAT TO DO
FOR SIMPLE SYRUP:
1. To prepare a simple syrup, combine 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
3. Allow to cool to room temperature about 20 minutes before use.
FOR GRANITA:
1. Using the high speed setting in your blender mix together the orange juice, limoncello, simple syrup, and ginger zest for 1 minute or until smooth.*
2. Pour mixture into a large and shallow tempered glass dish. Place dish uncovered on a level surface in the freezer.
3. After 60 minutes, remove the dish from the freezer and using the tines of a fork, gently break up the parts of the mixture that have slightly frozen. Scrape the sides of the dish gathering frozen granita into center of dish.
4. Return dish back into the freezer and repeat this process every 30 minutes for the next two hours or until mixture has completely frozen.
5. Once mixture is thoroughly frozen, fluff with a fork so that mixture appears as a loose pile of crystals. Serve in chilled dessert goblets or martini glasses. Garnish each serving with lime peel.
* BT Tip: To add more pizzazz to your granita, add a pinch of shaved lemongrass to the mixture before blending.
Bespoke Traveler 
This sounds amazing!
I’ll be right over for one of these and might I just say I love a great title like this? 🙂
😀 Looking forward to having you join….
Oooo this looks great – I’m all for fresh & zesty so I’ll definitely give it a try – thanks for sharing x
It’s raining where I am and I STILL want one of these, that’s how amazing this both looks and sounds!
😀 What a wonderful compliment! Thank you and we hope you enjoy your rainy day granita….
Oh man it looks so refreshing… miammm
Looks yummy!
I adore Sienna. The 17 contrade flying wildly, although sadly I was a couple days early for the Palio. I would love to see that one day.
But yes, the limoncello. What memories.
Your granita sounds amazing–and I still have a little liquor left over from my last trip to Italy. I think I shall use it accordingly.
Many thanks for that lovely trip down memory lane.
It’s fantastic how food can evoke such strong memories…it is far more powerful than I realized before embarking on my travels.
Now this looks and sounds refreshing and it’s actually hot in London.
I’m feeling very lazy in this heat, after a very busy day. I don’t suppose you could see your way to making one for me? I guess I could use a cranberry juice and add a splash of wisniowka 🙂
I would love to make you one Jo! Only I don’t think it will remain cool and refreshing by the time it gets to you….Just discovered wisniowska thanks to you and it sounds especially refreshing as a granita flavor!
We’ll have to each drink our own 🙂 🙂 Cheers!
Wouldn’t mind some right now with this heat
Refreshing indeed, a welcomed treat for the summer!
This colour reminds me sunset 🙂
🙂 Makes the delicious treat even more tempting.
Wonderful post, Atreyee. Beautifully written — now I want some Granita. Yum.