Any one who frequents the restaurant knows I change my dessert menu regularly- during the summer its somewhere between 3 to 4 times a month. It’s tough for the wait staff to keep up with the new additions, and today won’t be any different because I’m rolling out a sweet new menu. A creamy lemon budino (budino is an Italian pudding cake) with homemade raspberry gelato is a new comer. Also new is a trio of granita, which includes sugarplum, black cherry and cantaloupe all served with vanilla bean semifreddo, which I think is the perfect accompaniment. I love the whole icy-creamy combination (think Creamsicle).

Granita is a super easy frozen treat that anyone can make at home, because you don’t need an ice cream maker. Basically you mix a liquid with simple syrup, pour the mixture into a pan, throw it in the freezer and scrape it every hour or two to break up the ice crystals. I love to make fruit granitas in the summer, and in the colder months I make espresso granita or almond granita which both are amazing with softly whipped cream. Simple and good.

I took a trip to Farm’s View this week, picked up a bunch of unbelievable fruit, went back to the kitchen and hacked and pureed and froze everything I came back with. The granitas turned out amazing, and it’s all because I used perfect fruit. The entire kitchen staff, including myself, agreed that cantaloupe is our favorite granita flavor.

Cantaloupe Granita

1 ripe cantaloupe

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

In a saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil and then set aside to cool completely. Cut melon in sections, remove seeds and remove rind. Put the melon pieces and 1-½ cups of simple syrup in the bowl of a food processor and puree until mixture is smooth. Strain mixture into a freezer proof pan, and stir in the lemon juice. Taste to adjust sweetness- stir in more simple syrup if needed. Place mixture in the freezer. Every hour or two use a fork to agitate the granita until frozen. (Granita usually freezes within 8 hours.) To serve, use a fork to scrape the granita into a bowl. This granita goes great with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.