Champagne Raspberry Granitas Recipes

Steps:

• Place the raspberries and lime juice in a blender; process until smooth.
• Combine water, sugar and champagne in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat; simmer 1 minute or until sugar melts.
• Remove from heat, stir in raspberry puree.
• Pour the mixture into a large, shallow baking dish.
• Cover and freeze 8 hours.
• Remove dish from freezer and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.

Steps:

• Using a large sauce pot, combine the water and sugar. Cook until a syrup forms and all of the sugar has dissolved.
• Add the raspberry puree to the mixture and cool.
• Pour the mixture into a shallow pan and place it in the freezer. As the mixture freezes, occasionally scrape and stir the mixture to form crystals. After a few hours the granita is ready to serve.
• Serve in small glass cups with freshly whipped cream.

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.

Steps:

• Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Chill syrup until cold.
• Meanwhile, mash 3 cups raspberries in medium bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Mix in sugar syrup. Pour mixture through strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Pour mixture into shallow baking dish. Freeze until almost firm, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.
• Continue freezing granita until firm (do not stir), at least 3 hours or overnight. (Granita can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen.)
• Using fork, scrape surface of granita to form crystals. Scoop crystals into glasses. Garnish with raspberries.

Steps:

• Place raspberries in work bowl of a food processor, and process until smooth. If an extra smooth sorbet is desired, press pureed raspberries through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Whisk together pureed raspberries and honey in a large bowl.
• Combine 3 cups of water, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes; do not stir. Stir the sugar water and the remaining 1 cup of water into the raspberry puree.
• Make an ice bath by filling a very large bowl with water and ice. Set the bowl of raspberry puree in the ice bath, and whisk until cool. Pour cooled puree into a 9x13 baking dish, and cover; freeze until solid, 6 to 8 hours.
• To make a coarsely textured granita, use a fork to scrape frozen puree into small crumbs. For a deliciously silky sorbet, transfer frozen puree to a food processor and process until smooth.

Steps:

• In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the Champagne. Stir in the crème de cassis. Freeze according to the instructions for freezing granita on page 145.
• Although Champagne-Cassis Granita is delicious just as it is, a scoop of Raspberry-Champágne Sorbet (page 132) at the bottom of the glass is an elegant touch.