Orange granita with Campari and prosecco

A grown-up granita as a frozen aperitif: orange with bitter Campari, topped with chilled prosecco.

A bittersweet aperitif in granita form. The Campari goes straight into the mix — alcohol lowers the freezing point, so the mix has less added sugar, otherwise the granita wouldn’t set. The prosecco is poured over only when serving so it stays sparkling. For adults only.

Type: Granita · Servings: 6 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 600 g orange juice (fresh) (freshly squeezed (or from blood oranges))
  • 100 g water
  • 70 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 50 g bitter aperitif (Campari) 25 %
  • 300 g Prosecco / brut sparkling wine (for topping or folding in at the end, chilled, for serving)

Making the mix

  1. Heat the water with the sugar until the sugar dissolves, then leave to cool.
  2. Mix the syrup with the orange juice and Campari.
  3. Refrigerate the mix for at least 1 hour.

Method — No-machine method

  1. Pour the chilled mix into a shallow metal or glass container (2–3 cm deep) and put it in the freezer.
  2. After 45–60 minutes, once the edges have frozen, scrape them with a fork and mix them into the centre.
  3. Repeat the scraping every 30 minutes until everything has turned into loose, icy flakes (about 3–4 hours in total).
  4. Before serving, fork the granita through once more and spoon it into chilled glasses.

Alcohol freezes more slowly — do the first scraping only after 1.5 hours, and expect the granita to be softer than an alcohol-free one.

Total time: 5 h 15 min

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch the ice cream maker on 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Pour in the chilled mix and churn for 20–25 minutes until you have a thick, glossy, still flowing ice slush.
  3. Serve straight away — this is how the smooth granita is sold in eastern Sicily (Messina, Catania), from rotating dispensers.

An ice cream maker gives a smooth, creamy granita. Don’t churn it too long — granita shouldn’t be as firm as sorbet. Any leftovers will set in the freezer; fork them through before serving.

Total time: 1 h 40 min

Stages

Preparation
10 min
Cooking
5 min
Cooling
1 h
Freezer with stirring
4 h
Total time
5 h 15 min

Serving and storage

Spoon the granita into chilled wine glasses and pour 3–4 tablespoons of prosecco over it. Garnish with an orange slice. Serve straight away as an aperitif.

Granita is best on the day it is made. It keeps for a few days in the freezer but sets hard — let it soften for 5–10 minutes before serving and scrape it again with a fork.

Tips

  • Don’t add more Campari — the granita wouldn’t set in an ordinary freezer. If you want more bitterness, add a strip of orange zest instead.
  • You can use pink grapefruit instead of oranges; add 20 g more sugar.
  • Alcohol-free version: leave out the Campari, add 30 g sugar and top with tonic water instead of prosecco.

Why it works

Ethanol lowers the freezing point about seven times more than the same amount of sugar. A mix with about 1.2 % alcohol therefore has a similar anti-freezing power to a much sweeter alcohol-free mix. That is why there is only 70 g of added sugar here, and the granita tastes fresh and bittersweet rather than cloying.

Sources