Simple Fruit Juice Granita Food

EASY FRUIT-JUICE GELATIN

Steps:

• Place 1 cup juice in a glass bowl. Sprinkle with gelatin. Meanwhile, bring remaining 3 cups juice to a boil. Pour boiling juice over gelatin-juice mixture, and stir until gelatin dissolves completely. Pour into 5-ounce juice glasses, which make great single servings. Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

FRUIT GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a deep-sided metal pan, and place in freezer, uncovered, until it is nearly set, at least 4 hours, whisking mixture every hour.
• Remove mixture from freezer, and scrape surface with the tines of a fork until it is the texture of shaved ice. (Mixture can be frozen overnight without whisking; remove from freezer in the morning, and let sit at room temperature about 10 minutes to allow it to slightly soften before scraping with a fork.) Serve.

SIMPLE FRUIT JUICE GRANITA

Steps:

• Mix sugar and water together in a glass, microwave-safe, 8x8-inch dish. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Mix with a fork until all sugar is dissolved. Stir in juice.
• Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape mixture with a fork. Return to the freezer in increments of 30 minutes, scraping with a fork to create small granules after each one. The granita is ready when it resembles icy sand, about 3 hours total.

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.

TROPICAL FRUIT GRANITA

Steps:

• Stir juice and sugar in large bowl until sugar dissolves. Add rum, lime juice and vanilla. Pour mixture into shallow baking dish. Freeze until mixture is entirely crystallized, stirring frequently and scraping crystals from around edges, about 5 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen.)
• Using tines of fork, scrape frozen juice mixture to form small flakes. Spoon granita into goblets and serve.