Posted on : August 13th, 2020
Here in California, it’s still sunny and hot in the valley where our almonds grow. Our warm nights have put me in mind of the wonderful frozen desserts I sampled during my travels through Italy, when I was young and could eat whatever—and as much of whatever—I wanted. Grainy granita, rich gelato, fruity sorbetto…molto bene!
Almond granita is especially delicious in the summer; famous throughout Sicily, every town has its own version of this nutty, sweet, icy treat. A healthy upgrade from ice cream and even more refreshing, my version requires only three ingredients: almonds, unsweetened almond milk and honey. It takes time to prepare but it’s really easy if you plan a day or two ahead.
Crush almonds, then soak over night in the almond milk in a covered container. The next day, combine with the honey in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Remove saucepan from heat and allow to sit and steep for 30 minutes.
Next, puree the mixture in your blender or food processor until smooth, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids, or save them for another recipe. (I like them in hot cereal.) This yields about 2 cups of liquid.
Pour liquid into your baking pan or freezable glass container. Freeze mixture for four hours, stirring every 30 minutes with a fork to break it up into ice crystals. You’ll be left with a creamy, slightly grainy substance similar to a snow cone. Serve immediately in glass dessert dishes, garnished with more almonds if you like, and accompanied by amaretti cookies or these yummy Chinese restaurant inspired almond cookies. You can even have it for breakfast on a hot day with a brioche, like the Sicilians do.
To make your almond granita into a more “grownup” dessert, a light splash of Amaretto di Saronno liqueur on top is very nice!
Almond granita will keep in the freezer for three to five days, if you can keep yourself from eating it all. Just set it out for a few minutes at room temperature and scrape it with a fork again before serving. Buon appetito!
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Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded on strong beliefs and passion for offering unique, flavorful, top-quality nut products. We embrace earth-friendly practices that start on our family-owned and operated orchards. We use organic farming practices and continue in the process by using all-natural ingredients with no preservatives or GMOs. We believe in honest, friendly and helpful customer relations at all levels. We take pride in every task, every day, with every person.
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