Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream

The first time I tasted coffee I was in the fifth grade. After only one sip and as only could be spoken in the kind of pure honesty a 10 year old, I declared I did not like coffee. It would be decades before anything coffee would pass my lips again (this could be a lesson why we should not always let ten year olds make important life decisions as possessing honesty and wisdom are two very different things). Fast forward to a few years ago. I tasted coffee again, only this time it wasn't a hot coffee with milk and sugar, but an iced coffee with extra non-fat (aka skim milk) and one Splenda. And after one sip, let's just say I found it unfathomable I could have waited so long before giving coffee a second chance (sort of). As much as I have a new love and appreciation for iced coffee, I am not yet ready to give 'hot' coffee a second chance. Consider me an outlier, but I still don't understand how anyone can drink 'hot' coffee on 'hot' weather days.

As much as I have not yet gone over to the dark side of 'hot' coffee, I realize not everyone is a fan of iced coffee. And that got me thinking. Remember Venn Diagrams? (this isn't as much of a tangential detour as you might think, so bear with me just a bit longer). They are two overlapping/intersecting circles used to illustrate the similarities, differences and relationships between groups. Could it be possible that in the center of a hot coffee and iced coffee Venn Diagram would be coffee granita? In my world, the answer to this hypothetical, yet somewhat rhetorical question could be 'yes'. Some of you might emphatically say the answer is 'no' because Coffee Granita is not a beverage, but rather a semi-frozen dessert made with coffee, sugar and additional flavorings. Since I am way past the fifth grade where my Venn Diagram answers are no longer subject to the subjectiveness of my English teacher as well as being a self-admitted outlier, I, without hesitation, would put Coffee Granita in the center of the overlapping circles. 

If you have never had a Coffee Granita or even a granita before, well you might just consider not waiting years or even decades before trying it. I seriously believe Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream could become my new summer addiction. Without a doubt, this granita has the potential of becoming as habit forming as that morning morning cup of (hot or iced) coffee.

If simplicity, decluttering, back to basics, downscaling, and minimalism fits your way of life, this granita was made with you in mind. As hard as it is to believe, the coffee granita is made with only four ingredients: freshly brewed (strong) coffee, granulated sugar, vanilla and some additional flavoring (I used Dave's Coffee Syrup in Mocha). If this syrup isn't accessible in a store near where you live (or you feel compelled to make this granita now and cannot wait to order any), you can always use Kahlua or Tia Maria to further enhance the flavor of the granita. The quality of the coffee you use in the making of the granita will matter, so choose your favorite medium, medium-dark, or dark roast variety, the one you indulge yourself in or the one you buy when having guests.

A half-cup of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of the flavoring of your choice are mixed in to two cups of hot freshly, strongly brewed coffee. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then pour into a 9x9 baking pan and place in the freezer  the pan needs to sit flat in the freezer). After an hour, stir the mixture (ice crystals will begin to from) and return to the freezer. Then stir every 30 minutes for at least the next 2 to 3 hours (or longer, depending on the temperature of your freezer). At this point you will have a slushy, icy mixture. Once your granita gets to this consistency, it is ready to serve or you can continue to freeze (no more stirring required) for serving later. Then when you are ready to assemble/serve, use either a fork or spoon to scrape the frozen granita into shavings.

Let me digress to the use of a 9"x9" pan for a bit. Some recipes for granita call for the use of a 9"x12" baking pan, some call for a 9"x5" loaf pan, and some say don't use metal pans only ceramic pans. This would be what I call a 'gray' versus 'black and white' granita making decision. After having granita success with a 9"x9"metal pan, it will be my go-to granita pan but in a pinch, I will leave my pan size options open.

The coffee granita on its own is absolutely delicious, but the combination of the coffee granita with sweetened whipped cream can only be described as insane deliciousness.

Serve the coffee granita in a coffee cup, espresso cup, irish coffee cup, a parfait cup, Pots de Crème cup or any other cup/glass of your choosing. For smaller cups, top the granita with a generous dollop of the sweetened cream. But for larger cups/glasses, create two layers of the granita and sweetened whipped cream (see photo below).

If you love the flavor of coffee, this may be the most perfect warm, perfect hot weather dessert you will ever make. Granita virgins will be wondering why and how they had never tried it before.

Besides being a perfect ending to any meal or just a perfect end of day indulgence, one taste of this coffee granita might be enough to convince 'hot' coffee only drinkers to reconsider 'iced' coffee. But regardless, the coffee granita will make kindred spirits out of both the only hot and only iced coffee drinkers. The Venn Diagram validates this.

Recipe
Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream (inspired by Ina Garten's Coffee Granita with Sweetened Whipped Cream)

Ingredients
2 cups strongly brewed coffee (recommend Illy coffee or any other high quality medium to dark roast coffee)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon Dave's Mocha Coffee Syrup (or 1 teaspoon of a coffee liqueur such as Kahlua or Tia Maria)
Sweetened Whipping Cream (one cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of confectionary sugar whisked until stiff peaks form)
Optional: Chocolate Espresso Beans

Directions
1. Combine hot coffee, sugar, vanilla and additional flavoring stirring until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pour mixture into a 9x9 pan. Place pan on a flat surface in the freezer for one hour. Stir to break up the ice crystals beginning to form and return back to the freezer.
3. Continue to stir the mixture every 30 minutes until the mixture has completely frozen and has a granular appearance (about 2-3 hours). Serve or continue to freeze until ready to serve.
4. Spoon the coffee granita into cups or glasses, topping or layering with sweetened whipped cream. Top each cup/glass with some chocolate covered espresso beans. Serve immediately.

Someone once said to me that I am not aware of all of the things I have bought, saved and collected over the years. Naturally, I vehemently deny this claim and maintain (rather strongly) that if any of these 'things' went missing, I would know. That claim may have been truer before I moved to the east coast for several years, leaving most of things behind in the house in the midwest. This temporary absence somehow managed to give way to an out of sight, out of mind memory rather than the previously committed to memory inventory I prided myself on having. It isn't that my memory is going (not yet anyway), it is possible I have acquired too many things to keep track of, to remember.

The other day when making the coffee granita and deciding on what to serve it in, I rediscovered the antique Mottahedeh Pots de Crème cups I had bought many years back at an estate sale. The thrill of finding a treasure at an antique show, flea market, or estate sale almost pales in comparison to the thrill of refinding it again, this time in your own house. Needless to say, the reassurance of remembering when and where you bought this treasure is enough to make you feel your 'selective' memory is still operational. But just in case anyone wants to test my ability to remember all of those treasures I have bought over the years (being a little competitive I would say game on), I should probably start making more 'permanent' memory space by getting rid of all of those other less than pleasant memories I have 'collected' and been hanging on to. The least of which would be those I still remember from when I was ten.