Fruity Orange Raspberry Granita Food

ORANGE GRANITA

Steps:

• Clean and wash the oranges. Cut off the top 1/4 of the oranges and shave a small slice off the bottom so it stands easily.
• Using a grapefruit knife, cut out the flesh of the oranges and place in a strainer set over a bowl. Be careful not to cut through the bottom. Stand the oranges on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer and freeze until solid.
• Press the flesh of the oranges through the strainer to extract all of the juice. You should end up with about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of orange juice. Add the extra 4 cups orange juice. Stir in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is of desired sweetness. Add the basil and orange-flavored liqueur and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Strain the mixture into a roasting pan or baking dish. The dish should be large enough so the liquid is not more than 1-inch deep. Freeze the mixture for 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and scrape with 2 forks to break up ice. Return to the freezer and freeze until solid, about 2 to 3 hours, scraping with forks every hour or so.
• When the granite is frozen, scoop it into the orange shells and serve immediately.

RASPBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Using a large sauce pot, combine the water and sugar. Cook until a syrup forms and all of the sugar has dissolved.
• Add the raspberry puree to the mixture and cool.
• Pour the mixture into a shallow pan and place it in the freezer. As the mixture freezes, occasionally scrape and stir the mixture to form crystals. After a few hours the granita is ready to serve.
• Serve in small glass cups with freshly whipped cream.

RASPBERRY SORBET OR GRANITA

Steps:

• Place raspberries in work bowl of a food processor, and process until smooth. If an extra smooth sorbet is desired, press pureed raspberries through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Whisk together pureed raspberries and honey in a large bowl.
• Combine 3 cups of water, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes; do not stir. Stir the sugar water and the remaining 1 cup of water into the raspberry puree.
• Make an ice bath by filling a very large bowl with water and ice. Set the bowl of raspberry puree in the ice bath, and whisk until cool. Pour cooled puree into a 9x13 baking dish, and cover; freeze until solid, 6 to 8 hours.
• To make a coarsely textured granita, use a fork to scrape frozen puree into small crumbs. For a deliciously silky sorbet, transfer frozen puree to a food processor and process until smooth.

RASPBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Chill syrup until cold.
• Meanwhile, mash 3 cups raspberries in medium bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Mix in sugar syrup. Pour mixture through strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Pour mixture into shallow baking dish. Freeze until almost firm, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.
• Continue freezing granita until firm (do not stir), at least 3 hours or overnight. (Granita can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen.)
• Using fork, scrape surface of granita to form crystals. Scoop crystals into glasses. Garnish with raspberries.

ORANGE-CRANBERRY MARGARITA

Steps:

• For the cranberries: Combine the granulated sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and weight with a plate to submerge them in the liquid. Cover the pot and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours.
• Drain the cranberries, reserving the syrup. (Yields about 1 1/2 cups syrup; store leftover syrup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 month.)
• Put the superfine sugar on a baking sheet, and toss the cranberries in the sugar. Refrigerate the cranberries, uncovered, for 1 hour, then toss again in the sugar. Refrigerate in an airtight container. (Makes about 2 cups.)
• For the margarita: In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime and orange zests with the cranberries, 1/4 cup of the cranberry syrup, and the sugar.
• Add the tequila, orange juice, lime juice and orange liqueur; stir until combined. Fill 4 glasses with ice cubes, and strain some of the margarita mixture over each. Garnish each glass with 6 sugared cranberries.

ORANGE LIQUEUR RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• Pour the raspberries in a bowl and add the sugar and orange flavored liqueur. Stir lightly. Gently mash half the raspberries with a fork. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for about 1 hour until softened and juicy.
• To serve, fill the bottom half of a stem glass with the raspberries and spoon a dollop of creme fraiche on top, and place a Cinnamon Elephant Ears cookie on top of the creme fraiche.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and kosher salt and pour it over a flat surface such as a wooden board or marble slab. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar mixture.
• Combine 12 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon and spread it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, lightly roll the dough until it's a 13-inch square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square toward the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold one half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers. Slice the dough into 38-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the cookies for 6 minutes, or until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, AND ORANGE GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine orange juice, 3/4 cup water, honey, sugar, and orange peel in blender. Add half of strawberries and half of raspberries; puree until almost smooth. Add remaining berries; puree until smooth. Pour mixture out onto 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Freeze until edges are icy and center is slushy, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Stir icy edges into slushy center. Freeze granita until solid, stirring every 45 minutes, about 3 1/2 hours longer.
• Using fork, scrape granita down length of pan, forming icy flakes. Cover and freeze at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Spoon granita into glasses.

FRUITY RASPBERRY-LEMONADE GRANITA

Steps:

• Add water to drink mix in bowl; stir until mix is dissolved. Stir in zest.
• Blend half each of the prepared drink and fruit in blender until smooth. Repeat with remaining drink and fruit.
• Serve immediately.

FRUITY ORANGE-RASPBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Add water to drink mix in bowl; stir until dissolved.
• Blend half each of the prepared drink and raspberries in blender until smooth. Repeat with remaining drink and raspberries.
• Serve immediately.