Refreshing, Tart Lemon Granita with Fresh Berries



Recipe by: Slightly adapted from Gourmet, via Epicurious
Yield: 2-4 servings

This amazing lemon granita is lip-puckering good! It’s like a sweet/tart lemonade frozen into a refreshing summer ice. If you’re a lemon fan, you’ll love it with a drizzle of limoncello and a handful of fresh, sweet berries.

Ingredients:
2 to 4 large lemons
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
a few teaspoons limoncello (optional)
fresh berries (optional)

Directions:
With a vegetable peeler or sharp knife, remove zest in long pieces from 1 lemon. Scrape off the white rind from the zest if you got much — this could make your granita bitter. Finely grate off the zest of another lemon. Squeeze 1/2 cup juice from lemons (this took 4 lemons worth of squeezin’ for me, but you only use the zest from the first 2).

In a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in zest (strips and grated) and transfer this mixture to a bowl to cool. Chill syrup, covered, overnight.

About 20 minutes before you’d like to serve your granita, discard large strips of zest (the grated zest stays in for flavor and texture) and stir the 1/2 cup lemon juice into the syrup. Freeze lemon mixture in an ice-cream maker until it’s “spoonable but not crumbly.” This usually took about 12-15 minutes for me. (If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture, stirring every 30 minutes, for 3-4 hours.) Serve immediately, garnished with a teaspoon of limoncello and fresh berries if desired.

10 Comments on Refreshing, Tart Lemon Granita with Fresh Berries

  1. AliciaM
    July 4, 2013 at 12:29 am (11 years ago)

    Mmmm… this sounds delicious! And perfect for the “heat wave” we’ve had!

    Love your Simpson’s story. Sounds like something I would’ve done. 😉

    Reply
  2. Tieghan
    July 4, 2013 at 1:50 am (11 years ago)

    Mmm! This is so yummy looking. Love those berries!

    Reply
  3. Sarah | The Sugar Hit
    July 4, 2013 at 2:22 am (11 years ago)

    I am 90% sure my sister had that exact same book – and I remember the lemonade from it! She was always making herself just one glass and then letting me drink some “if there was any left”. Which there never was.
    I might get my own back with this granita!

    Reply
  4. Angie
    July 7, 2013 at 4:15 pm (11 years ago)

    Beautiful dessert!

    Reply
  5. Kathy
    July 8, 2013 at 2:33 pm (11 years ago)

    Yum! I am loving all things lemon lately!

    Reply
  6. Lee
    July 15, 2013 at 6:30 pm (11 years ago)

    This looks fantastic! Do you think that the sugar could be subbed out for Splenda? I’d love to make this to have as a snack but can’t have sugar. 🙁

    Reply
    • Julie Ruble
      July 15, 2013 at 8:57 pm (11 years ago)

      I’m going to level with you: I tried Stevia and it was HORRIBLE. Super bitter. Then I almost tried Splenda and just decided it wasn’t worth wasting the ingredients! Honestly, since this is based on a syrup base, I wouldn’t sub it 🙁 I think you could sub it into many of the other recipes on the site, though!

      Reply

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