DESSERTS,  ICE CREAM, FROYOs

{No Bake/Frozen} PEACH-GINGER & PLUM-VANILLA GRANITA … bidding adieu to stone fruit

2010/08/19 / 31 Comments
Worldly things were of little meaning. She lived for hamburgers, ice cream, pencil and paper. 
Carol Adams
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I’m really really gutted and you might wonder why. I feel as if I lost the first prize and walked away with the consolation prize. At the heart of my misery is my rather late discovery of the granita. Have actually contemplated making it quite often, but never with such a sense of urgency until I saw this post on House of Annie. I was generally googling for something fun and refreshing to do with the last plums and peaches of the season, and this particular post had me gaping! Annie had made peach and plum granita and I just knew what my next sweet stone thing was going to be!
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Annie made both granitas but her recommendation on the peach flavours were far more exciting – Peach & Ginger? Yes please! I had the sugar syrup and ginger simmering in no time. Her feedback on the plum granita wasn’t too good, and sent me looking for another. I settled for a Bon Apetit recipe I found on Epicurious. The vanilla bean had my attention, and I am really glad I tried this one.

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Both the flavours turned out over the top fantastic which is why I was so cheesed off. Oh to have discovered something so good at the very end of the season! I know how my next stone season  looks  …  a fridge full of granitas for sure! And before I forget, I read somewhere that you scrape the granita with the fork every 30 minutes to keep the ice crystals small! They taste so good once they reach freezing point, that it’s difficult to keep away from stealing a bite. The son ran out of ‘scraping with the fork’ patience, “It’s OK Mama, we can eat it like this!”, while Mr PAB grabbed the fork and said “WTH is this? It’s fab“!

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For me, the hard work was the pushing the pulp through the sieve. It took forever, or like forever. Also, my granitas took a whole day before reaching freezing point. Maybe I need a new fridge, maybe… I adjusted the sugar in the plum granita because the plums were quite sour. I also added 2 drops of red food colour as the plums weren’t the dark red ones. You can skip that, but I let them be to give me colour contrast with the peach. Oh yes, one more thing … once out of the freezer, granita melts really fast!

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I’ve learnt since that running the plums through a blender is MUCH better than using a processor. Managed to achieve the other thing I had bookmarked and that was this delicious to the last drop plum lemonade, posted here. My last lot of plums were squishily sitting in the fridge till day before, and  now I have them blended. One more thing  on my list to do using plums before we are done with the season, a plum fro yo. Mmmm …
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Plum Vanilla Granita

Adapted minimally from Epicurious {Bon Appétit}
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 1/2 pounds plums, pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
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Method:
Combine water, sugar and cinnamon in heavy small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool syrup completely.
Puree the plums in processor. Press enough puree through sieve to measure 1 1/2 cups. Strain syrup into puree and blend well. Transfer mixture to a shallow 9 X 5 loaf tin. Freeze plum mixture until flaky crystals form, stirring every 30 minutes, about 4 hours. After it hardens, use a fork to scrape it up into coarse granules. {Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; keep frozen}

Peach Granita

1″ piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
7-8 large peaches, stoned

PEACH
Method:
Slice the ginger into slivers and boil them along with the cup of sugar and cup of water
Cut up the peaches and blend along with the slivers of ginger from the syrup. Then strain the puree through a sieve. To the puree add the juice of one lime, and then the ginger sugar syrup. Pour into a shallow dish and place in freezer. After it hardens, use a fork to scrape it up into coarse granules.

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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31 Comments

  • Jessica @ How Sweet

    2010/08/19 at 2:47 pm Reply

    I don't want to say goodbye to stone fruits either!

    That looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL and delicious.

  • gnee @ Singing With Birds

    2010/08/19 at 2:50 pm Reply

    Oh this looks so refreshing and easy to make. Thanks for your recipe and beautiful photos.

  • Debugcooking

    2010/08/19 at 3:27 pm Reply

    How do ya manage to post so much..need all yr positive energy…my ice-cream post is still n drafts..

  • Nate @ House of Annie

    2010/08/19 at 6:01 pm Reply

    Your granitas look really lovely. I'm sure they tasted great too. Oh how I wish we were back in the land of plentiful stonefruit! I'd be such a happy camper with my ice cold granitas on a steamy summer day.

    Thanks for the link back!

  • Prerna@IndianSimmer

    2010/08/19 at 7:06 pm Reply

    Thank you some much for your lovely and kind words over at my space Deeba! I adore your work so much so coming from you they meant a lot. Let me just say it once again, I LOVE your photographs! Amen 🙂

  • Eliana

    2010/08/19 at 8:24 pm Reply

    I'm so not ready to say goodbye to stone fruits, especially when you present us with beautiful desserts like this one 🙂

  • Suman Singh

    2010/08/19 at 10:55 pm Reply

    looks so refreshing and delicious..great treat to beat these hot summer days going on here.

  • Suzanne aka vivisue

    2010/08/19 at 11:40 pm Reply

    Stone fruit is the best trade-off for 100+ degree days! This looks delicious and refreshing!

  • Anna Johnston

    2010/08/20 at 1:44 am Reply

    So exciting when you find a new recipe that quite unexpectedly turns out to be something your craving. I can't wait for our summer to try some of these summery delights.

  • Marisa

    2010/08/20 at 9:24 am Reply

    This looks so refreshing! Love the striking colours.

    PS: That bowl with the plums in is beautiful!

  • Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes]

    2010/08/20 at 5:58 pm Reply

    I already said goodbye to stone fruits 🙁 They left here a while ago. I've never made a granita either, though I really want to after I saw MasterChef!

  • Jamie

    2010/08/25 at 8:50 am Reply

    Stone fruits are my absolute favorite and I so love granita but have never made one! This is a stunning recipe, stunning! Love the perfect flavors! And gorgeous pics, as always, my dear! xoxo

  • MeetaK

    2010/08/26 at 9:04 am Reply

    i adore stone fruits so this time of the year is perfect. i love that you combine both plums and peaches here! just great!

  • Sonia Monagheddu

    2013/08/15 at 4:58 pm Reply

    Hi, I’m Sonia, an Italian food blogger, sorry for my bad English, I want tell you that I have included the link of this recipe in the section on my blog dedicated to “10 ways to make” (“10 Modi di Fare”) granita recipes.
    The post is ‘Granita ai mirtilli’ I hope not to bother you.
    Have a nice day.

    Sonia

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