Granitas are a wonderful summer treat. Easy to make, elegant and easy to customize. Also, you can’t really mess them up, like you can with ice cream. Granitas are typically lower in sugar than other frozen treats, even when processed sugar is added.
This watermelon granita is all you need this summer to cool down. The sweet watermelon is refreshing and crisp, and the tangy, hibiscus-based Hibiscus (Embrace) teasan adds a delicious cinnamon finish to the dessert with a vibrant magenta color.
Cinnamon-Spiced Watermelon Granita
Author: Jerry James Stone
Recipe type: Dessert, Iced Tea
Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
- 3½ pounds of seedless watermelon
- 2 teabags of Numi Hibiscus (Embrace) Teasan
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Sage for garnish
Instructions
- Trim and cut the seedless watermelon into 1-inch cubes, removing as many of the white seeds as you can.
- Transfer the cubes in batches to a food processor and pulse until the watermelon cubes are liquid. Run the liquid through a sieve, removing the leftover pulp and seeds. You should have about 4 cups of watermelon juice.
- Brew the two teabags of Numi Embrace in one cup of water for 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl add the watermelon juice, brewed tea, sugar and salt. You may optionally reduce the sugar if your watermelon is super sweet. You will also need to adjust the salt accordingly. Remember, when items freeze, their sweetness is reduced. So if it is sweeter at room temperature, it will not be as sweet frozen.
- Transfer the mixture to a large baking dish and place it in the freezer, uncovered.
- Every thirty minutes, as the edges and top freezes over, break the frozen parts of with a fork. Do so until the whole thing is frozen and flaky.
- Serve the granita in wine glasses with a sprig of fresh sage.
For more ice cold tea-based treats, check out our Strawberry Kiwi Shaved Ice or our Raspberry “Ice Cream” Tea Float recipes.
I just tried this recipe and I can’t help but fall in love with this. It’s so delicious! Thanks for the recipe Jerry.
Linda, we’re so glad that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂