NEW RECIPE: Granita Two Ways

Midterm season is easily one of the most stressful times of college. Studying and cramming in as much material as possible to get those high grades on those exams results in lots of late nights, coffee runs, and stress attacks. Having a way to release all that stress is crucial.

For me, I've always found cooking and making food to be a relaxing habit, but during midterms, its hard to cook because it takes time which I'd rather commit to studying. However, there are a lot of simple dishes that can be made in quick amounts of time! There are also dishes that just need a little attention every now and then (aka excuses to take study breaks), and this granita is just that.

Granita is a traditional frozen Italian dessert that I like to call the "old-school shaved ice." It's highly customisable to whatever liquids or fruits you would like to use, making it a fun dessert that will last a while in the freezer! Simply mix it every hour or so while in the freezer while studying, and you'll get the ultimate shaved ice!

I've done two different forms of granita for this recipe, both of which are vegan. One is a coffee granita, and the other is a citrus rose granita. Try these out, then branch out on your own and go for what flavors you love the most! 

Each Granita serves 4 people.

For the Coffee Granita:

1 1/4 cups coffee (10 fl oz, basically the equivalent of 1 K-cup. Use any coffee you like!)
1/4 cup cashew milk (any milk or milk alternative can be used here)
2 tsp sugar

For the Citrus Rose Granita: 

1 cup orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rose syrup

Cooking/Assembling:

1) Mix the ingredients for each granita in separate containers that can be placed in a freezer. Transfer to your freezer.

2) Every 45 minutes or so, use a fork to scratch up the mixtures and break up the crystals as small as possible. Continue this process for around 4-5 hours until the crystals are extremely fine.

3) Serve with fresh fruit, or add a shot of tequila the citrus rose granita before serving for an alcoholic refreshing dessert!

This is a cold, refreshing, and tasty dessert, no matter what way you make it! Add whatever flavors you want and garnish with what you like! Fresh mint, other herbs, fruit, nuts, alcohol, cream... The possibilities are endless! This is such an easy dessert to make, and a lot of fun to eat! 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Let me know what you think and what you would change. If you make it at home, let me know how it turns out! Enjoy! =)