Coffee Granita--it deserves its own post!

Sorry to be repetitive with the recipes here, but Guido and I had THE most amazing treat yesterday--coffee granita. If you love coffee and would like a summertime pick-me-up, you have got to try this.  I know I blogged about lemon granita below, but this was so good, it deserved its own blog!

Servings: 2 to 4 people, depending on how much coffee you can handle, and your level of restraint.

Prep time: Including making the coffee and time to let things cool, about 15 to 20 minutes.

 Ingredients:

• 8 oz. or 1 cup of espresso or coffee (250 ml) **Not filtered coffee, unless it's crazy strong
• 4 oz. or 1/2 cup of water (100 ml)
• 1/2 cup of sugar (100 g)--maybe start with a little less and sweeten to taste.
• G-spot ingredient: Whipped cream for topping...oh...my...goodness...

Make the espresso and allow it to cool. While it's cooling, bring the water to a simmer, lower the flame, then add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Take the sugar water mixture off the heat and allow it to cool.

When the coffee and the sugar water are cool, mix the two together, and pour the mixture into a shallow dish (like a 9 x 9 glass baking pan). Don't use something with Teflon because you'll be using a fork (and because Teflon sucks!). Cover the dish (not essential).

Let the mixture sit for one hour, then stir it with a fork, crushing all the icy chunks. Repeat this every 30 minutes (some recipes say 20 minutes) and after about 3 hours, it should be ready to serve. You might want to let it warm up just a bit so it's not so grainy, but is a little bit slushy and liquid as well. Guido said that's how it's served in Sicily.


Final tip: You MUST, MUST, MUST use whipped cream on this. You don't have to, of course, if you're avoiding dairy, but it truly becomes orgasmic when you do.

My boyfriend (who's half Sicilian) loves this recipe and is amazed at how simple it is to make, and how like the "real thing" in Sicily. Enjoy!