Espresso Granita

In spite of many a lofty plans, this 14th of Feb, all I ended cooking up for dinner was our regular  pizza and Espresso Granita from  Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. In fact I did not even make the pizza. i just got the dough ready and Nishi topped it, as he always does and got the dinner ready while i was hanging out with Pradyot. and it was only after our little boy fell asleep that i felt a compulsive desire to make something sweet to mark our love and friendship of ten years. i flipped through the recipe books that were on the kitchen counter and decided on Espresso Granita as the dessert for the evening. why Granita on a cold chilly night you ask. well, because we are crazy like that. also,  once upon a time... several moons ago, it was coffee that had tied a strong silent bond between the two of us.... so celebrating with coffee  always seems befitting no matter which form it is in.

I followed the recipe from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen word to word, just sizing it down to serve two. and this is how it went.

ingredients.

2/3 cup freshly made espresso

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

shaved bittersweet chocolate

what i did.

while the coffee was still warm, i stirred in the sugar until it dissolved and next added the water. i then poured the mixture into my 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 inch bread loaf pan and placed the pan in the freezer. after 45 minutes, when a thin layer of ice had gathered on the surface, i racked it with a fork to dislodge and distribute the ice crystals... and kept repeating the raking-dislodging-redistributing business every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours to form a granular texture.

in the meantime,  Nishi whipped the cream and remaining sugar in the mixture until it formed soft peaks.

finally we scooped out the granita into two ramekins, topped it with a dollop of whipped cream and shaved chocolate and dug into it right away....  hmm... that felt good...  slurp ... slurp........... 

Sending this to

"Flavors of Series 4 around Europe" by simply.food hosted at Divya's Culinary Jouney

the event Walk Through  Memory Lane announced by Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot and hosted at Merry Tummy