Clementine Granita
A bit of background…
I am a lover of citrus. In all forms, shapes, colours and sizes. I never encountered a type that did not provoke intrigue or interest. Citrus are seductive. The amount of times I was longing for a ‘missing element’ in food and then reached out for citrus juice, zest, or sweetness is more than I can remember. Luckily, my home country, Egypt, is graced with an abundance of citrus. Over the years, I have explored the many ways that citrus may be used. I have been inspired by the Sicilian method of making granita as I find the result to be achievable at home and the method straightforward. Here is how I make a Sicilian-inspired clementine granita when I am seeking a fresh and bright treat.
A loose guide
I start by carefully washing my clementines. I try as much as I can to keep the leaves on the fruits. Then, I divide my clementine into two pieces - the body, significantly larger and serving as a container for the sorbet; and a hat, significantly smaller and serving as a cover for the sorbet. At this point, it is time to juice the fruit. As we will be using the fruit for serving, it is important to keep it as intact as possible. There are a couple of ways for doing this - here is how I do it. Using a small spoon, I get in between the citrus skin and fruit segment. Like you would when peeling a boiled egg and trying to get under the membrane to have a clean peel. Once you are able to create that separation, it becomes easier to remove the inside from the fruit.
Using a citrus squeezer, I juice the content of the fruit into a medium bowl. In parallel, I combine two cups of water and one cup of sugar into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium/high heat, then leave to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and ensuring that the sugar has been dissolved. Leave the syrup to cool, then combine with citrus juice into a large container. Freeze overnight.
The next day, quickly break up your now frozen citrus juice/syrup mixture, and blend over medium/high speed in a food processor. It is important to be quite speedy with this step to avoid the mixture from melting. You may have to do this step in a few rounds if your food processor is not big enough.
Transfer the granita into the empty clementine shells. If not serving immediately, freeze once again until you serve them.
Recipe
Ingredients
8 clementines (around 240 ml)
2 lemons (around 90 ml)
1 orange (around 70-80 ml)
1 cup caster sugar
2 cups water
Method
Step 1 - Prepare your clementines. Carefully zest 2-3 of your citrus, ensuring not to bruise the fruits as you will use them for serving*. Keep the zest aside. Divide each clementine into two parts - the hat (small top of the clementine) and the large body (container for the sorbet). Using a small spoon, apply pressure on the pulp, transferring juice into a medium bowl. Get in between the citrus skin and fruit segment and remove the fruit pulp. If there is still juice to be yielded out of the pulp, squeeze it up using a citrus squeezer. Repeat the same process with the rest of the citrus.
Step 2 - Prepare your syrup. Combine 2 cups water with 1 cup sugar into a small saucepan and place over the stovetop. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat then leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, ensuring the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and leave to slightly cool.
Step 3 -Back to your citrus. Pour citrus juice through a sieve into a large tupperware container. Add citrus zest and stir..
Step 4 - Once syrup has cooled enough, combine in tupperware with citrus juice/zest mixture. Stir, cover and leave in the freezer overnight**.
Step 5 - Break apart the frozen syrup/citrus juice mixture into large chunks. Transfer to a food processor and blend until somewhat smooth, but still retaining some graininess.
Step 6 - Fill empty citrus shells with granita, and cover with their hats. Freeze once again until you serve them.
Notes
*You may omit the zest in this recipe; however it adds complexity to the final result and makes a difference. It means that some of your citrus cups won’t look as ‘aesthetic’ but I find it adds charm to the result.
**If you leave the mixture for a longer period of time, it may be difficult to blend in the food processor.
