Summer is par excellence the season of granitas. What could be better for relief from the great heat than enjoying a cold, refreshing granita? One of the advantages of this dessert is the incredible variety of flavours: you can enjoy orange, lemon, mint, strawberry…. and coffee!
Drinking a coffee granita is in fact the same as enjoying your favourite drink in a new, pleasantly icy and incredibly refreshing summer format. And if you think that in order to delight yourself with this pleasure you need to find an ice-cream parlour that will prepare it for you, you are completely mistaken.
In this article we will tell you how to prepare an excellent coffee granita at home, as it is an easy, quick recipe with a guaranteed result. Before revealing the ingredients, however, let’s find out together what the origins of this delicious nectar are!
The origins of granita
The original granita is an iced drink typical of Sicily, whose origins date back several centuries, to the Arab period to be precise. Starting in 827 A.D., the Arabs introduced many culinary and agricultural innovations to the island, including the use of ice and snow to prepare refreshing drinks. To do so, they used snow from the Sicilian mountains, particularly Mount Etna and the Nebrodi Mountains, mixing it with sugar and fruit juices to create a preparation very similar to today’s granita.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the use of ice to preserve and prepare food became more widespread. In Sicily, there were even ‘nevieri’, i.e. natural snow deposits; and ‘ghiacciaie’, structures where snow was compressed and stored until summer. The snow was collected in winter, covered with straw or leaves to insulate it, and then used in the warm months to make granitas and sorbets.
Over time, the techniques for making granita evolved. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the introduction of new tools such as the pozzetto (a cylindrical container used to mix snow with other ingredients) and the use of salt to lower the temperature of the ice mixture made the preparation of granita more efficient and refined.
Even Patrick Brydone, a Scottish scientist and military man visiting Sicily, used to say that, for the Sicilians, a famine of snow would be worse than one of wine: a statement that underlined how much this people adored granita. It should therefore come as no surprise that this refreshing drink has become an integral part of Sicilian culture, distinguishing itself in numerous variations and typical flavours: one of these is the coffee granita, which you are about to discover how to make.
Coffee Granita: the basic recipe
Let’s start immediately with this first recipe for coffee granita, characterised by the fact that it requires very few ingredients. In fact, we are talking about a very basic preparation, although the result you will obtain will still be fabulous. The first thing you need to do, therefore, is to get the following ingredients:
- 250 ml espresso coffee;
- 250 ml water;
- 70 g sugar;
- 200 ml liquid fresh cream;
- 30 g icing sugar.
Prepare the coffee and let it cool. In the meantime, get a bowl and pour in the sugar, adding the room temperature coffee a little at a time. To mix everything well, you can use a whisk and also add the 250 ml of water that you have previously prepared.
At this point, you have two options: use an ice-cream maker, in which you will have to pour the mixture and leave it for 30 minutes, after starting the machine; or, alternatively, use a simple bowl to put in the freezer for at least an hour.
In the latter case, the advice is to take it out of the freezer at the end of this time, stirring the mixture with a fork in order to mix it properly. This should be repeated once every half hour until the desired consistency is achieved.
Meanwhile, prepare the whipped cream for the next decoration of your coffee granita. To do this, simply whip it until stiff, also incorporating the icing sugar and using the whisk. When the granita has reached a suitable consistency, you can finally serve it in small glasses, garnishing it with a dollop of whipped cream.
Coffee granita: the ‘strong’ recipe
This second recipe is probably our favourite. Since we are experts on coffee, but above all we love it so much, we could not fail to be won over by a preparation based on a double dose of our beloved beverage!
This variant of the coffee granita, in fact, involves using both the coffee prepared with the mocha and the instant coffee, with the result of enhancing the coffee flavour to the maximum! But let’s see in detail what the ingredients are:
- 200 ml coffee;
- 5 g instant coffee;
- 350 ml water;
- 100 g sugar;
- whipped cream as much as needed;
- cocoa powder as much as needed;
- coffee beans as much as needed;
- 1 Sicilian Brioches.
The first thing you need to do, to prepare this fantastic coffee granita with a strong and intense flavour, is to boil a saucepan with water and sugar: the ideal would be to bring the boiling to about 5 minutes, so as to create a real syrup.
Then add the double coffee: both the coffee prepared with the mocha and the instant coffee, continuing to stir until you obtain a homogeneous mixture, which you will pour into a bowl. Once this is done, cover it with a layer of cling film and place it in the freezer, where it should remain for a total of about 4 to 5 hours.
The advice, however, is to take the mixture out every half an hour in order to stir it and remove the inevitable ice crystals. Your ‘double’ coffee granita will in fact be ready as soon as it reaches a pleasantly creamy consistency and is free of ice chunks.
When you have achieved this, all you have to do is pour it into the usual small glasses, decorate it with whipped cream, bitter cocoa and coffee beans and, if you like, enjoy it together with Sicilian brioches!
Coffee Granita: the recipe for the sweet tooth
The latest recipe we are suggesting is designed for the sweet tooth: those who don’t want to give up gluttony, even in summer. If you also fall into this category, then you can’t help but go crazy over this special coffee… and chocolate granita!
We are talking about a real nirvana for the taste buds, perfect to enjoy as a snack or whenever you feel the need for a “special treat”. To prepare it, you will need the following ingredients:
- 150 g of ristretto coffee;
- 100 g dark chocolate;
- 140 g sugar;
- ¼ litre of water;
- Whipped cream.
First, you have to prepare the usual syrup by combining water and sugar in a saucepan, stirring continuously until the sugar dissolves completely. Then add a cup of ristretto coffee, without stopping stirring.
As for the dark chocolate, you will have to melt it in a bain-marie and, as soon as it is ready, mix it with the sugar and coffee syrup. Our advice, at this point, is to add some more ristretto coffee, pouring it in slowly, continuing to stir until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Once the mixture has cooled down, pour it into a bowl and place it in the freezer until it reaches a solid consistency. Again, however, it is a good idea to take it out every half hour and give it a stir.
When your coffee-chocolate granita is finally solid, you can serve it in the usual small glasses with a dollop of whipped cream and, if you like, a few chocolate shavings. The result will literally make you lick your lips!
Before concluding, one last tip: although it would be better to enjoy the granita immediately, you can also keep it in the freezer for up to thirty days. When consumed, you can decorate it with a dollop of whipped cream.
Conclusion
If you have read this far, you might start to feel the need to enjoy a delicious coffee granita. If your taste buds are also tingling, then you will be interested to know another secret that is common to all the recipes we have presented to you: if you want to drink good coffee, you should make it with the right machine!
After all, if the coffee you have prepared is not good, neither will the granita that contains it. That is why your first goal should be to prepare a coffee worthy of the name, using a machine that can ensure this, such as a lever machine.
The main characteristic of these models, which are becoming more and more popular and appreciated, is in fact that they are able to retain all the nutritional properties of the coffee, enhancing its aroma to the maximum. The result is a rich, full-bodied beverage that you can use in any recipe… or enjoy as it is!
So, now that you know the real secret of the coffee granita, all you have to do is consult our catalogue and discover the right coffee machine for you: the one that will guarantee the main ingredient of your very fresh coffee granita, whose goodness will be truly assured.
