Honeydew Melon Strawberry Bellini Granita Food

HONEYDEW GRANITA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool., Pulse honeydew, sugar syrup and wine in batches in a food processor until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to an 8-in. square dish. Freeze 1 hour. Stir with a fork. Freeze, stirring every 30 minutes, until frozen, 2-3 hours longer. Stir again with a fork just before serving.

HONEYDEW AND MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring the sugar and 3/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the mint, pressing with a wooden spoon to submerge. Let cool completely, then remove the mint with a slotted spoon and discard.
• Combine the mint syrup, honeydew and lime juice in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a 7-by-11-inch or 8-inch square metal baking dish.
• Freeze the honeydew-mint mixture until ice crystals begin to form around the edges, about 45 minutes. Scrape the crystals toward the center of the pan with a fork, breaking apart any large chunks. Continue freezing, scraping every 30 minutes or so, until all of the granita has been scraped into flakes, 3 to 4 hours. Spoon into chilled bowls and top with mint leaves.

STRAWBERRY ROSE BELLINI

Steps:

• Make a simple syrup: Add the sugar and 1 cup water to a small saucepan and heat over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a container and allow to cool completely in the fridge, about 45 minutes.
• Add the strawberries and lemon juice to a blender with the cold simple syrup; blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Transfer to a pitcher and chill until ready to use.
• To serve, add about 2 tablespoons of the strawberry puree to a champagne flute and top off with the chilled rose.

STRAWBERRY BELLINI

Steps:

• Blend 3 cups strawberries, confectioners' sugar, and brandy together in a blender until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
• Divide the strawberry mixture among 3 champagne flutes; top each with about 1/2 cup sparkling wine; stir. Garnish each glass with 1 strawberry.

MELON GRANITAS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat sugar with 2 tablespoons water, stirring occasionally, until dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.
• Peel, seed, and coarsely chop melon. In a food processor, puree melon with sugar syrup until smooth (to yield about 6 cups); pour into a large, shallow dish.
• Freeze, stirring and breaking up crystals with a fork every 30 minutes, until entire mixture is frozen and crystallized, about 3 hours.

STRAWBERRY-ROSE GRANITA

Steps:

• Put the hulled strawberries in a bowl and set aside. Cut off and discard the tops of the 12 large strawberries and trim the bottoms so that they sit upright. Use a small melon baller to scoop out the inside of each strawberry to make a small cup, adding the scooped flesh to the bowl with the hulled strawberries. Wrap and store the berry cups in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
• Combine the rose, sugar and bowl of strawberries and scooped flesh in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into an 8-inch square metal pan. Freeze 3 to 4 hours, scraping the mixture with a fork every hour to make it slushy. Wrap and freeze until ready to serve. The granita can be made a day ahead and stored overnight.
• Working in batches, remove the strawberry cups from the refrigerator and fill with a spoonful of the granita, mound some more on top and top with a sprig of mint. Store the assembled granita cups in the freezer while assembling the remaining cups to prevent them from melting.

MELON GRANITA

Steps:

• Tip the sugar and 125ml/4fl oz water into a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds and put in the pod as well, then heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for 6-8 minutes to make a sugar syrup. Leave to cool and remove the vanilla pod.
• Halve the melons, scoop out and discard the seeds, then scoop the flesh onto a board and chop to a slush with a sharp knife (or you can do this in a food processor). Mix the sugar syrup and melon slush together with the lemon juice in a large shallow baking dish. Freeze uncovered for about 1 hour until crystals form around the edges. With a fork, stir the edges into the centre and mash well, then return to the freezer until crystals form again. Stir and refreeze as often as you can (say every half an hour or so) until the granita is frozen all over - this should take about 3 hours. Fork it up roughly when you serve it.

HONEYDEW MELON & STRAWBERRY BELLINI GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine melon, strawberries, and lime juice in a blender. Blend until smooth and strain. Pour into a medium sauce pot with sugar. Heat until the sugar dissolves, no need to boil.
• Remove from heat and add sparkling wine.
• Pour into an 11x7 inch baking dish, cover and freeze for about 1 hour. Remove from freezer and scrape with a fork every 30-45 minutes. Repeat this process for about 4 hours, or until granita is light and fluffy.
• Serve in a pretty glass of your choice with a sprig of mint.
• Enjoy.