Meet Granita, the Grown-Up Slushie

No machines here — this dessert only requires only occasional trips to the freezer

Photo: Jessica Shaver Photography/Moment/Getty Images

Granitas are among the easier and readily customizable frozen desserts — you don’t need a machine or any drawer-cluttering equipment to make them, you can use literally any flavored liquid you like, and no special technique is involved.

Intensely flavored, with a crunchy, slushy, largely unrefined texture, they’re never more appealing than in the dead of summer. Making them is a lazy affair: You freeze a liquid and return to stir and scrape it periodically as it freezes until the whole thing resembles a snow cone.

Fruit Granita

Makes: About 3 cups
Time: About 2 hours

Ingredients

• 2 cups ripe fruit, chopped
• ¼ cup Simple Syrup (optional, recipe below)
• Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Instructions

1. Purée the fruit in a blender or food processor with the syrup (or if you’re not using it, add some water if necessary to get the machine going). Strain it if there are lots of seeds or fibers. (You should end up with a little less than 2 cups purée, but don’t stress about the exact…