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    Pineapple and lime granita

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    *mandatory

    Pineapple and lime granita

    This is a fabulous dessert for a hot summer night. Freeze it lightly to retain a slushy texture. To ensure you have a really ripe pineapple for this recipe, sniff the base before you buy – it should smell sweet and fragrant.

    • Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus cooling
    • Cooking time: 10 minutes
    • Total time: 35 minutes, plus cooling

    Serves: 8

    Ingredients

    1 medium pineapple
    170g granulated sugar
    3 dried lime leaves
    3 tbsp dark or navy strength rum (optional)
    2 limes, zest and juice, plus extra zest to serve
    whipped cream and vanilla extract, to serve

    Method

    1. Put a large, shallow stainless- steel tray in the freezer. Slice the top and bottom away from the pineapple. Stand it upright and slice away the skin, cutting from top to bottom. (Don’t worry if some little ‘eyes’ remain – these will be sieved out later.) Cut the pineapple into quarters from top to bottom; slice off the lengths of core from each quarter and set aside. Cube the flesh and weigh out 600g; set aside. Put the sugar, pineapple cores, lime leaves, rum (if using) and 170ml water in a small pan and slowly bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bubble gently for 5 minutes then remove from the heat, cover and leave the syrup to cool (about 1 hour).

    2. Strain the syrup through a sieve, discarding the pineapple cores and lime leaves. Put the 600g pineapple, lime zest and juice plus the syrup in a blender and whizz for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Push the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing to extract as much flavour as possible from the fibrous bits. Pour the liquid into the frozen tray and return it to the freezer, carefully placing it flat.

    3. Check the granita after 1 hour; it should have begun to freeze around the edges. Use a fork to break up the frozen bits and stir them back into the mixture. Repeat every 45 minutes or so, forking the granita to prevent it from freezing solid. The aim is to achieve large, slushy crystals.

    4. After about 3 hours in the freezer, the granita mixture should be a heap of canary- yellow ice crystals. Serve in chilled glasses topped with soft clouds of whipped cream flavoured with a little vanilla extract and topped with a scattering of lime zest. It can be kept covered in the freezer for up to 3 days. Scrape the granita with a fork before serving to break up any large lumps. 

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    This recipe first appeared in Waitrose & Partners Food, August 2019 issue. Download the Waitrose & Partners Food app for the full issue

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