Granite

As refreshing in flavor as they are easy to make, granite are popular throughout Italy. These mixtures of syrup and flavoring (usually fruit juice or coffee) are grainy in texture, as their name indicates, and are frozen in a pan in the freezer. They develop the characteristically large ice crystals as the mixture is stirred occasionally during the freezing. Feel free to experiment with your own granite — lime or grapefruit would work equally well in the Granita al Limone, as would the strained juice of berries other than strawberries in the recipe for Granita alle Fragole.