When visiting sunny Sicily, having an almond granita is a must! You’ll find street carts and small cafes scooping granitas (semi-frozen dessert slushies) into cups with a small spoon and a straw. Granita is a lot like an Italian slurpee, a sweet slushy drink that’s much easier to sip than it is to eat — especially on a warm summer day. We loved all the regional granita flavors: lemon, strawberry, coffee, and especially almond granita.
Our street vendor almond granita in Sicily.
Making Almond Granita At Home
Once home, I couldn’t wait to re-create this popular Italian dessert and make my own almond granita. One of the things I found frustrating about most granita recipes is that they recommended pouring a mixture of sugar and water into a baking sheet, then babysitting it and scraping with a fork every half hour until you had slush. Who’s got time for that? Especially when you’re entertaining or have friends over.
Instead of the traditional granita recipe method, I experimented with creating sweet almond ice that breaks up well in a blender and creates a grantia texture similar to what we experienced in Sicily.
You Will Need:
- Almond Paste
- Fun Paper Straws
- Colorful Dessert Spoons
- 10 Ounce Clear Cups
- Ice Cube Trays
- High Speed Blender
- From Your Pantry: Almond Milk and Sugar
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Almond Granita
Ingredients
- 4 ounces almond paste
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 cups almond milk (plus one additional cup for serving)
- Optional: 4 ounces amaretto
Instructions
- Break up the almond paste into quarter inch chunks and add to a blender.
- Pour the 1/4 cup of sugar and 3 cups of almond milk over the almond paste.
- Blend on high speed until the ingredients are well mixed. Stir with a spoon to make sure the almond paste is well blended into the milk.
- Pour blended almond mixture into two ice cube trays and freeze overnight.
- When ready to serve, add the frozen almond cubes to a blender and pour one 1/2 cup almond milk on top. Blend on high speed until the texture becomes a slush, adding 1/4 cup of almond milk at a time if the slush texture is a bit to dry.
- Scoop almond granita into four cups and serve with a spoon and a straw.
- Optional: You can make them boozy by adding 1 ounce of amaretto (almond flavored Italian liquor) to each glass.
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