Watermelon Granita

Watermelons are indigenous to the Western Cape. As this is where I live, it seemed the right choice to make my watermelon granita using fresh fruit. This means you will need a juicer or blender to do this yourself.

Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Watermelon Granita ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X

Sicily is well known for its arancini and granita, neither of which we got to sample while we were there. We found one gelateria that had granita, but they looked awful – not even the coffee flavoured one enticed me. I decided that I would make my own and chose a watermelon granita as my flavour to experiment with. I have a juicer which would get more use if I had the space, but it was well worth getting down to juice the watermelon. You could purée your watermelon and then pass it through a sieve if you don’t have a juicer. I used the leftover watermelon to quench my thirst, and I used the granita to make a vodka cocktail for a hot afternoon cool me down drink.

Have you made your own granita, or tasted some and which flavour do you like best?

Watermelon Granita
Watermelon Granita
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5 from 1 vote

Watermelon Granita Recipe

Recipe Category: Dessert
Makes enough for: 1 batch granita
All Rights Reserved: Adapted from Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Sicily page 384

Ingredients

  • 50 g orange juice
  • 250 g fructose
  • 800 g watermelon juice, (I used a quarter of a large watermelon)
  • 30 g lemon juice

Method

  • Warm the orange juice in a sauce pan over a medium heat
  • Add the fructose and stir until dissolved
  • Remove from the heat and leave to cool
  • Cut your watermelon into chunks, removing the peel, and juice
  • Pass through a sieve to get your 800 grams
  • Add the watermelon juice and lemon juice to the orange syrup
  • Mix well and pour into a lidded container that can go into the freezer
  • Remove every hour and whisk - do this until the ice crystals begin to form
  • Leave to freeze completely before scraping off the granita with a fork, to serve
  • Best used within the first 3 days of maming

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49 thoughts on “Watermelon Granita

  1. I saw a watermelon granita recipe somewhere in a vegan dessert cookbook, involving chocolate as the “seeds.” What a lovely Sicilian dish, I can’t wait for sunshine to come out and Sicily is one of the destinations on my travel wish list.

    1. Oh, what a clever idea for the seeds! I hope you get to Sicily as it is really beautiful once you get out of the bigger villages 🙂

  2. The ideal treat for the insanely hot weather today. Actually it might be too hot to make so I’ll just dive straight into the ice cold watermelon!

  3. I never heard fo Granita until my husband and I vacationed in Quebec City in October. So so good. I’d love to re-create that and yours looks amazingly delicious! 🙂

  4. Lovely dessert,especially homemade version..
    i just didn’t understand why granita and shorbets is pretty pricey in the restourant???
    even it’s easy to made, but not that easy to photograph (in my tropical climates)

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