Prickly Pear Granita
By: Juno
Published: Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 5:27am

Ingredients




1 cup (250 ml) white granulated sugar
2 cups (500 ml) water
4 prickly pears, chilled then peeled (cactus pears)
the juice of a lemon

Preparation

1 Place a large, flat metal dish in the freezer for two hours. 2 Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. 3 Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 4 Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Chill. 5 Peel the prickly pears, chop roughly and place in a blender. 6 Blend to a thick pulp. 7 Measure the pulp into a bowl. 8 Add the equivalent amount of cooled sugar syrup. 9 Stir in the lemon juice. 10 Pour the mixture into the frozen dish and place in the freezer. 11 After 30 minutes, scratch and scrape the mixture with a fork to form crystals. 12 Continue scraping and scratching every 20 minutes until you have a pile of  fluffy, crystalline flakes. 13 Pile the granita into chilled martini glasses and serve immediately.

About


I have prickles, spikes and burny things on my mind today.  Last night, my son discovered a large scorpion skulking (with intent, I imagined) in my dog's food bowl. I thought we might see the odd critter in our new garden - which is tucked  up against a mountain - but I hadn't figured on scorpions, and am going to think twice now about walking barefoot in the garden at night.  Then, this morning, I was alarmed when my husband complained that he was burning and itching all over: had - shudder - a scorpion burrowed into the bedclothes?  Then I remembered that yesterday my daughter had -  in the interests of science, you understand -  'tested' my canister of pepper spray .  I'd laughed it off, and told her to wipe up any residue. 'What did you clean up the mess with?' I asked her now, the penny slowly dropping.  'With dad's bath towel!' she yelled.
Finally, scratching in the fridge for breakfast, I found a big bag of prickly pears I'd bought a few days ago and forgotten about. They were the last thing I wanted to touch, feeling as creepy and crawly as I did, but I am just smitten by this most beautiful and refreshing fruit (see my earlier post) so I put on a pair of gloves and turned them into a granita. This is a delicate ice with an ethereal flavour: so easy to make and  perfect for a hot day.

Comments:
Sheri Wetherell

Note: All photos are by Wasabi Prime though some were uploaded by Foodista.