Summer Berry Granita Recipe

What is Granita? | 2 Easy Methods for Making Granita | 3 Ways to Serve Summer Berry Granita | Essential Tools for This Recipe

Summer berry granita made with sugar, water, fruit juice, and citrus. Quick and easy, this recipe is simple and delicious. It comes together in 25 minutes, and then freezes for 4 hours.

There are many wonderful and refreshingly cold summer desserts, but granita seems to be a little less well-known. I would like to change that!

This berry granita is so easy to make, and you don’t need any fancy equipment. Read below for helpful tips and the recipe.

What is a Granita?

Granita is composed of sugar, water, fruit puree or juice, and sometimes citrus juice or zest. It’s also known as Italian ice, and it’s super easy to make. This dessert is ideal for a hot summer day when you want to cool off. It’s also the perfect dessert for a dinner party because it doesn’t need a lot of embellishment. The fresh flavor is what makes it so good!

Oh, and did I mention you can make it ahead?

2 Easy Methods for Making Granita

The first method takes about 2 minutes to prep.

1. Combine fresh berries(or fruit juice), sugar, and water in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour it into a flat pan, such as an 8×8 or a rimmed cookie sheet.
3. Freeze for 2-4 hours (depending on the depths of the granita) and scrape until light and fluffy.

The second method takes a few extra minutes, but it’s still easy and my preferred method.

1. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan to dissolve the sugar.
2. Add fruit puree or juice and any additional flavors.
3. Stir to combine, and pour into a pan.
4. Freeze, scrape to fluffy the Italian ice, and enjoy.

3 Ways to Serve Summer Berry Granita

This summer triple berry granita is super flavorful, which makes it an easy dessert to serve without too much fuss or embellishment.

1. One of the best ways to serve granita is just as it is. You can dress it up with fresh berries and mint, but you don’t have to do anything else!
2. The second way is to serve it with fresh whipped cream and berries. This gives a nice contrast to the brightness of the berries and adds more texture and variety.
3. The third way to serve this dessert is to serve it with some soft vanilla bean ice cream. Top the ice cream with granita, a few fresh berries, and, dare I say…some sweetened condensed milk. It’s basically a grown-up snowcone, and it’s crazy good! The sweetened condensed milk is optional for this variation, but a fun addition.

Essential Tools for This Recipe

• A sturdy fork for scraping the granita
• A good blender
• A 8×8 pan or long, shallow dish

Other Recipes You’ll Love

• Quick and Easy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream with Salted Caramel
• Strawberry Lemon Tarts

Summer Berry Granita

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• Author: Camille
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes
• Yield: 8–10 servings 1x

Ingredients

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For the Summer Berry Granita

• 2 cups strawberries, frozen
• 3/4 cup blackberries, frozen
• 3/4 cup raspberries, frozen
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1–2 Tbs fresh lime juice, to taste

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Instructions

To Make Summer Berry Granita

1. Thaw the frozen fruit at room temperature or defrost in the microwave for 60 seconds or until soft. Don’t heat the berries, however. Just let them get juicy.
2. While berries are thawing, heat water and sugar in a medium pot until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.
3. Blend berries, lime juice, and simple sugar syrup in a blender until smooth. 
4. Pour granita mix through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the berry seeds. Next, pour the mixture into 8×8 pan. You can also use another long and shallow pan if you do not have 8×8. 
5. Place summer berry granita in the freezer uncovered for at least 4 hours. Remove from the freezer and use a fork to scrape the granita into light, soft flakes. Continue to scrape until all of the granita is light and fluffy.
6. Serve as is, with fresh berries, over vanilla ice cream for an extra special dessert experience.
7. Cover the remaining granita and store in the freezer for 2-3 weeks. If the granita is hard to re-fluff and scrape, let the mixture melt completely and refreeze before scraping again.

Notes

This is a Baker Street Society original recipe.