Coffee Granita

This recipe was given to me by one of my favourite chefs and food writers, Simon Hopkinson. It's so simple, refreshing and very attractive served in stemmed glasses with lots of whipped cream.

Serves 4

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas.

Coffee Granita

Ingredients
1 pint (570 ml) strong espresso coffee (made in an espresso coffee maker) or extremely strong filter coffee (the dark Continental roast is best)
4 oz (110 g) granulated sugar
Equipment
You will also need a shallow 1½ pint (850 ml) plastic freezer container.

Method

Begin by dissolving the sugar in the hot coffee. Allow it to cool, then pour it into the container and place it in the freezer. As soon as it has begun to form ice crystals around the edge, stir it with a fork to distribute the ice. (In a conventional freezer it can take 2-3 hours to reach this stage – so keep an eye on it.) After that keep returning and forking the ice crystals around until you have no liquid coffee left. This can take up to another 3 hours, but it is impossible to be exact as freezers vary.

You can serve the Coffee Granita at this point. If you need to leave it frozen, all you do is remove it to the main body of the fridge 20 minutes before serving. To break up the ice, use a strong fork: this is not meant to be like a sorbet, but is served as coffee-flavoured ice crystals. Topped with whipped cream, it is a lovely, refreshing way to end a good meal.

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