Pear And Cranberry Granita Recipes

CRANBERRY-PEAR CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the fresh and dried cranberries in a large bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla and toss to coat. Lightly smash with a potato masher or fork to burst some of the cranberries. Add the pears, cinnamon, allspice and 2 tablespoons flour and toss to coat. Transfer to a 3-quart baking dish.
• Make the topping: Mix the remaining 1 cup flour, the pecans, oats, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the salt in a medium bowl, then stir in the melted butter. Use your fingers to pinch the topping into small clumps and sprinkle it over the fruit.
• Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PEAR AND CRANBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine pears and honey in processor; puree until smooth.
• Pour reserved pear juices into 2 cup measuring cup.
• Add enough cranberry juice to pear juices to measure 2 cups.
• Add juice mixture to processor and process until well blended.
• Transer to 13x9x2" glass baking dish.
• Freeze until frozen, at least 5 hours or overnight.
• Using fork, scrape surace of granita to form crystals.
• Divide among 6 dessert glasses.
• Garnish with cranberries and mint sprigs, if desired.

PEAR CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the pears, water, ginger and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in cranberries and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until the cranberries have popped and sauce is slightly thickened, stirring several items. , Discard cinnamon sticks. Mash sauce if desired. Cool. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

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.

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:

• Whisk the cranberry juice and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves. Pour the cranberry mixture into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Cool completely. Whisk in the lime juice and vodka. Freeze until the granita becomes slushy, about 2 hours. Using fork, stir to blend. Continue freezing the granita until frozen, stirring every hour to form crystals, at least 5 hours or overnight.
• Divide the granita among 6 dessert glasses. Garnish with fresh cranberries, if desired, and serve.

PEAR AND CRANBERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the 1/4 cup ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form into 2 disks. Wrap the disks with plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Roll each pastry disk into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer them to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• For the filling, peel, core, and quarter the pears. Cut each quarter into big chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Divide the pear chunks between the pastries, covering the dough and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cranberries over the top of each tart.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the two tarts. Gently fold the border of each tart over the pears, pleating it to make a circle.
• Bake the crostatas for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the pears are tender. Let the tarts cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer them to wire racks.

PEAR GRANITA

Steps:

• Quarter the pears, peel them, and remove the cores. Dice the pears into 1-inch (3-cm) pieces. Put them in a medium-sized, nonreactive saucepan with the water and sugar and cook over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until completely soft, about 8 minutes. A knife inserted into a pear chunk should meet no resistance.
• Cool to room temperature, then purée the pears and their liquid in a blender or food processor until smooth. Freeze according to the instructions for freezing granita on page 145.
• Serve Pear Granita with Chocolate Sorbet (page 120) or Chocolate Ice Cream, Philadelphia-Style (page 28).