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This is definitely a recipe must for everyone! I am not a drinker by any means…the only kind of drinks I like are girly, fruity ones and I still find those hard to drink since they have calories (and loads of them) and I figure that I could have a dessert instead, but this drink/dessert is the perfect combo for me! This recipe is from David Lebovitz's book, The Perfect Scoop, a book solely devoted to ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and sweet accompaniments. He describes granita as “a shaved ice, made from a lightly sweetened fruit puree or another liquid.” Even though I have drooled over many recipes so far this was the first one I've tried. The simplicity of the recipe is amazing, which lends itself to the pure and simple fact that you have no reason not to try it. Well, if I haven't convinced you already hopefully the photos will!

Mojito Granita

adapted by David Lebovitz's, The Perfect Scoop

Makes about 1 quart

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

2 limes, preferably unsprayed

1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 6 limes)

3 Tablespoons white or light rum

Add the water and sugar to a small, non reactive saucepan and then grate the zest from the two limes directly into the saucepan. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, so that the sugar completely dissolves. Reserve 5 mint leaves and then add the rest to the saucepan and take it off of the heat. Cover the pan for 8 minutes so that the mint infuses the liquid. Then uncover and let liquid come to room temperature.

Once liquid is cool, strain the mixture into a flat container that is approximately 8 to 12 inches across, with a 2 quart capacity. Make sure to squeeze all the yummy liquid out of the leaves and then discard them. Stir in the lime juice and rum and then finely chop the remaining 5 leaves and add them to the liquid (I choose just to use them as garnish). Place the container in the freezer and freeze for one hour. Once the edges begin to freeze, take a fork and break up the frozen parts and rack them toward the center. Return to the freezer and then check the mixture every 30 minutes and continue breaking up the ice particles until the mixture almost completely frozen or completely frozen (depending on your preference).

Here are some photos of the process…infusing the mint and then the stages of ice formation.

David suggests that you can serve it over any ice cream or sorbet (maybe mint ice cream), top it off with whipped cream, or simply pile the granita high in its own dish and enjoy it by itself…that is what I did!

I have to confess that my husband and I were so addicted to this delicious granita that almost every cup ended up like this one!