For a Hot Summer Dessert try Caffe Granita – Milk was a bad choice?

When it gets to be super hot and muggy, reminding me of those sweltering Roman summers when I was a kid visiting family, there’s a nice tasty treat that will help cool you down. I’m talking about Caffe Granita! The shaved frozen espresso is a taste relief on those humid July and August days and I’ve added a twist to this recipe to make it a savory dessert. So sit back and enjoy Paggi Pazzo’s take on Caffe Granita that will cool you down faster than a hot cup of coffee or a big glass of milk(?)

To begin the Caffe Granita we need to prepare a cup of espresso and as I’ve mentioned in my Tiramisu recipe, Lavazza is my espresso of choice (could there be any other????). While the espresso is still hot add sugar and stir, this will help the espresso from becoming too bitter when it freezes. After the espresso cools down a little bit, add to a tray with a cover and put in the freezer. This is where the tedious part starts and be careful – for full transparency I lost about 2 spoonfuls after I scraped the frozen espresso too hard and it was “incoming espresso shrapnel”, so take cover! After 3 hours remove the espresso from the freezer and use a fork to scrape the espresso creating little crystallized chips. After the entire surface is scraped, put the tray (covered) back into the freezer and repeat every hour for the next 3 hours (that’s a lot to keep track of!). Truthfully if you do this at least 3 times, I’ve found you can let the espresso sit over night and then give another good scrape in the morning. Just remember to scrape the espresso again at least 2 more times before serving.

Now for the Paggi Pazzo Caffe Granita twist… the traditional and authentic recipe calls for whipping cream to be only served with espresso but I had left over biscotti so I decided to make an Italian Sundae of sorts :-). I would serve your Caffee Granita in a glass with vanilla flavored Gelato (if you do not have gelato, vanilla ice cream is a good substitute) then crumble biscotti on top of the gelato and add a thin layer of whip cream. Take the shaved espresso and generously pour on top of the whip cream and your Caffe Granita is ready to be served. So there you go, stay cool and keep it classy with Paggi Pazzo’s Caffe Granita! Salute “Don” Burgandy!

Caffe Granita Recipe

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 8 hour
Total time: 8 hour 20 min
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup Lavazza espresso
• 8 scoops Vanilla gelato or ice cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 8 almond biscotti or Savoiardi biscotti
• 8 tablespoons whip cream

Cooking Directions

1. Make 1 cup of Lavazza espresso in a bowl and add sugar, stir for several minutes
2. After espresso cools a bit, add to a tray and cover putting into the freezer for 3 hours
3. After 3 hours, take frozen espresso tray out and scrape to make little crystals (repeat every hour 3 times)
4. In a small glass, add gelato then crumble biscotti and add whip cream on top
5. Scrape 2 tablespoons of the frozen, crystallized espresso and cover on top of whip cream
6. Ready to serve