This is a refreshing, easy and nutritious summer dessert. Or snack for that matter. It’s dairy, gluten and sugar free and maximises that fresh strawberry flavour. That flavour is enhanced by both the freshness of lime and the lingering vanilla flavour. You could leave the vanilla out but I think it’s what takes this to the next level, from frozen snack to dessert.
For this to taste super delicious you need good quality, fresh, sweet strawberries. If your strawberries aren’t quite sweet enough you may want to add maple syrup. I’ve suggested maple because it works well with the flavour of the vanilla.
This could also double as a cocktail base for any tequila or vodka based cocktail you’re thinking of mixing up on a sunny afternoon. I know that’s not exactly a health conscious idea but it’s a lot better than using the sugar laced drink mixes that usually end up in frozen cocktails, and you’ll definitely think about it as soon as you taste this goodness.
The colour of this granita is amazing, and the fresh lime zest creates a beautiful colour contrast – so very pretty.
Serves 10
Ingredients
750g strawberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup water
1 vanilla pod
1-2 tsp maple syrup to taste (optional)
zest of one lime, juice of half of one.
Directions
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and blitz together with the strawberries, water lime juice and half the zest, in a food processor. Process until you have a slushie texture with no lumps. Taste and add syrup if required. Transfer to a 1-2 inch deep baking tray or dish and place in the freeze.
After 25 minutes remove and using a fork, flake the frozen edges and move to the centre of the tray. Place back in the freezer and keep repeating this process until the whole tray is full of icy flakes of granita. This took me approximately 1.5 hours but it will depend on the size of your tray and the temperature of your freezer. You can serve immediately or leave overnight and take the tray out 5 or 10 minutes before you plan on serving it and when ready to serve use a fork to separate the flakes again.
Serve in bowls or glasses and top with a pinch of the reserved lime zest.
HH. x
