Cranberry Champagne Granita Recipes

CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Put the cranberries, water, sugar, and orange juice in a medium, nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from the heat, and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Purée the mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth, then press through a mesh strainer to remove the bits of cranberry skin. Freeze according to the instructions for freezing granita on page 145.
• Serve with Tangerine Sorbet (page 119) or spicy Cinnamon Ice Cream (page 38).

CHAMPAGNE GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and place in the refrigerator until cold, about 1 hour.
• Using the finest grater you have, lightly scrape the skin of 1 lemon, removing only the top surface of the peel. Squeeze out the juice and remove the seeds from both lemons.
• Open the Champagne or sparkling wine, and pour it into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch pan. Mix in the simple syrup, lemon juice, and grated zest. Place mixture into the freezer. Check after 30 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, break up any ice formed on the sides and stir into the rest of the liquid. Continue to freeze and repeat this procedure every hour for at least 3 hours. Before serving, fluff the granita by "chopping" up any clumps with the spoon or gently whisking the frozen mixture. Spoon into small glasses or cups and serve.

CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine 4 cups cranberries and next 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep 30 minutes. Working in batches, puree mixture in processor. Strain puree into large bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.
• Pour strained puree into 15x10x2-inch dish. Freeze 45 minutes. Using fork, stir to blend in any frozen portions. Freeze until granita has uniform slushy consistency, stirring every 45 minutes to incorporate frozen portions, about 5 hours. Cover and keep frozen up to 1 day.
• Using fork tines, scrape granita, forming icy flakes. Spoon into goblets. Garnish with cranberries and mint sprigs.

CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Place the water, cranberries and sugar into a small saucepan, set over medium-high heat and simmer until the berries begin to pop, approximately 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Puree with a stick blender, blender or food processor, for 1 minute. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer directly into a metal 13 by 9-inch pan. Do not press on the skins. Simply allow the juice to drip through the strainer. Add the zest and stir to combine. Place in the freezer until set, at least 6 hours and up to overnight. Once frozen, scrape the mixture with a fork to create a shaved ice texture. Serve immediately.

CRAN ROYALE

Steps:

• Cranberry-Thyme Syrup:
• Cook thyme, cranberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over low, swirling pan occasionally, just until sugar is dissolved and cranberries have released their color, 12-15 minutes (do not reduce liquid). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl or measuring cup and let cool (you should have 4 oz.).
• Assembly:
• For each cocktail, combine 1 oz. cranberry-thyme syrup, 1/2 oz. lemon juice, and 1/4 oz. Campari in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Cover and shake vigorously until the outside of shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and top with 3 oz. Champagne; garnish with 3 cranberries on a skewer.
• Do Ahead
• Syrup can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill.

CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Add all the ingredients to a saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves.
• Decrease heat and simmer until the berries have softened, about 10 minutes.
• Cover and cool off the heat for 30 minutes.
• Pour the contents of the pan into a large blender; puree until smooth.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a 13x9 inch baking pan, pushing the solids against the mesh with the back of a wooden spoon.
• Freeze the mixture in the pan on the floor of the freezer for about 3 hours, stirring about every 20 minutes with a fork to break up the ice crystals and distribute them evenly throughout the pan.
• After the mixture has frozen but is not yet fully firm, cover it tightly with plastic wrap; the granita will keep this way for up to 3 weeks.
• Scrape the surface of the granita with a fork to produces lots of shaved ice crystals, scoop these into individual cups or glasses for serving.
• *Spiced Cranberry Granita: add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ t. ground mace, and ¼ t. grated nutmeg to the pan before you set the mixture aside to cool for 20 minutes; proceed as directed.

CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Add an extra course to your Christmas dinner -- all you need is a bottle of juice! To make this cranberry granita, pour 4 cups cranberry juice into a 9-inch square metal baking dish and freeze, scraping with a fork every 30 minutes, until frozen, about 3 hours. Spoon into small bowls, top with frozen cranberries and serve between dinner and dessert.