Posted By Ingrid Turner on Dec 23, 2013 in Christmas, Desserts, Ethnic Foods, Featured, Fruit, Fruit & Vegetables, Holidays & Events, How To Cook, Italian Food Recipes, Memorial Day, Pomegranate, Sweets, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Vegetarian | 0 comments

Pomegranates are a part of the cold, Northern Hemispherical Winters, and this Pomegranate Granita recipe is an icy surprise.

Aside from the relationship between Pluto & Persephone, where she was committed to leave the Earth to dwell in the confines of the unpleasant, infernal regions during Earth’s Winter. This was a result of eating just one seed of pomegranate.

Goodness, just from one seed? I would have at least demanded an entire pomegranate, with its most beautiful red seeds holding that most delicious pulp, for a punishment like that. In fact, I would have wanted to be provided with them on a regular basis.

Granita, the word for dessert ice in Italian, is a sugar syrup base flavored mostly with fruit juice or puree, which is frozen & subsequently scraped or shaved. This produces an interesting texture of ice crystals.

How to Make Pomegranate Granita:

For a pomegranate granita, the fruit seeds need to be heated in a sauce pan because they are large seeds.

Type: Dessert Recipe

Serve with: a sprig of mint, grated lemon zest or lime zest
Prep Time: up to 1 hr, if removing seeds yourself from pomegranates
Cook Time: 25 min
Refrigerator Time: 2 hrs
Freezer Time: 3 hrs
Storage: up to 1 week frozen
Yields: 6 – 7 cups, depending on how juicy pomegranates are

Ingredients:

• seeds of 4 pomegranates
• 2 cups + 1 1/2 cups water – additional 1 1/2 cups could be apple juice
• 3 3/4 cups simple syrup – 50% sugar & 50% water; heated til dissolved
• 1 – 2 drops red food coloring – if necessary

Instructions:

1. To make the simple syrup, combine 1 3/4 cups water and 1 3/4 cups sugar in a sauce pan and heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside & cool completely.
2. Using the seeds of 4 large pomegranates, boil in a separate sauce pan, with water or water with apple juice, cooking for 20 min. * Tip: Add more water, if necessary, to keep seeds covered.
3. Using the back of a spoon, press as much of the fruit as possible.
4. Strain seeds, pressing through a mesh strainer or sieve to get as much of the fruit flavor into the strained juice/puree, catching juice in a bowl. Discard seeds. * Tip: If the color of the pomegranate puree isn’t pink enough, a drop or 2 of red food coloring can be added, if desired.
5. Stir this puree into cooled simple syrup, and refrigerate until cold.
6. Freeze by pouring the puree base into a stainless 9 x 9 inch pan or freezer tray, and place in the freezer covered with plastic wrap for 45 min.
7. After 45 min, and from then on, the granita should be scraped with a big fork or spoon, as it hardens in the freezer, stirring the frozen crystals from the edges of the pan back into liquid, and loosening & breaking up the frozen crystals.
8. Repeat until the mixture is frozen & creamy – about 3 hrs in all.
9. When solidified, it should be scooped into individual serving bowls or goblets for a real elegant look, and served at once.

• Tip: To get less labor-intensive results on serving day, the puree can be poured into ice cube trays & frozen for 3 – 5 hrs, up to 1 week ahead of time. Transfer cubes to a plastic freezer bag to store frozen in the freezer. On serving day, just prior to serving, pulverize cubes in a food processor, processing only enough at one time for each serving. Pulse the processor 10 – 12 times.

The work & effort to create this granita will be well worth it when you see how much your guests & family enjoy this tasty, unusual & refreshing dessert.

As with most desserts, I like to do a “dry run” before serving guests to perfect the result.

Thanks for checking me out on Cooking with Kimberly. Please check out my blog too:

• IngridTurnerToday.com

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I hope you enjoy this Pomegranate Recipe on Cooking with Kimberly. Until next time…

Be a Champion in Your Kitchen & Eat Deliciously!

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