all you need is (mango) love – mango granita

It’s been hot. The heat has made me thankful for tank tops, ice cold water, air conditioned movie theaters, and delicious frozen treats. And while it is super fun to go out and get some ice cream at a shop, sometimes it’s nice to try making it yourself at home, too.

I was at Jake’s again for the weekend and Jake has been wanting me to try making a mango sorbet for quite some time. We had it at Khan’s Cave for my Dad’s birthday back in April and liked it so much that we wanted to try making it at home. We finally got our hands on some ripe mangoes so I could experiment and try making this frozen treat.

Just about every sorbet recipe I read talked about using an ice cream maker to chill the sorbet. I didn’t have one of those on hand so I decided to try making a granita instead, which is sort of a cross between a sorbet and an Italian ice. You don’t need much to make this! Just a few ingredients, a long pan, a fork, a freezer and some time to kill.

[the cast of characters]

You need three things: ripe mangoes, lime juice, and sugar. That’s it!

[cubed mango]

Jake and I were able to pick up a couple of ripe mangoes for fairly cheap at the Farmer’s Market in Lemon Grove. Mangoes are kind of a bitch to cube. They’ve got that crazy, fibery pit in the middle making them hard to cut through. I managed to just slice around it in pieces and cut off the peel as I went. I used both mangoes for this.

[into the blender we go]

Along with the mangoes, I added sugar, water, lime zest and lime juice. Pulse on high until smooth.

[pour into dish for the freezer]

I couldn’t find a 9 x 13 pan at Jake’s so I used this smaller dish… until I realized it wouldn’t work. I ended up putting in into two pie pans. You want to use a larger pan so it’s easier for the granita to set and easier for you to scrape!

[use a fork to scrape your frozen creation]

Every half hour (for a few hours) you want to take the granita out of the freezer and scrape it down with a fork. At first it’ll mostly just be swishing it around in the pan until it starts to set. Then you want to scrape every surface so you get fine granules for your granita. I did this process for about three hours until I decided I didn’t need to scrape it anymore.

[all scraped up – mango granita]

This is how my granita looked after I decided it didn’t need any more scraping love. It kept this shape and texture in the freezer and I was able to leave it alone until it was time to put it into our bellies.

[ready for consumption]

The mango granita was delicious! It was light and melted every quickly once you placed in on your tongue – sort of like mango flavored snow. Very easy and simple dessert! This could be done with practically any fruit you’ve got on hand – I bet a mixture of fruit would be awesome, too. I’m thinking of melons and berries and peaches… oh my.

Mango Granita
(adapated from Fine Cooking)

2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
1 tablespoon lime juice
zest of one lime
2 cups water

Peel, dice and cube your mangoes. Add all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse on high for about 2 minutes or until the texture is very smooth.

Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan or into two separate smaller pans. Mixture should be shallow in the dish. Place in the freezer.

Every half hour, take em out and scrape em with a fork. At first you’ll just swish the mixture around until it starts to freeze over. Scrape every bit! After about three hours, you can let it set without scraping it anymore.

Consume and relish in the delicious frozen treat to cool you down.