#Cider #Granita anyone?

The following is an extract from the Cider Enthusiasts Manual I'm currently completing:

I love this recipe.

It has to be one of the easiest things to make as long as you have time to check on it regularly. Its the kind of thing that you can prepare in advance for an evening with guests and whip it out of the freezer to serve it. 

The quality of cider you use is important and I believe it works best with a naturally sweet, earthy cider. I believe a wild yeast, keeved cider (which has a particularly distinctive taste) that retains alot of residual sugar, tannin and acidity creates the most balanced falvour. The addition of some grated apple give it the all important freshness granita needs. When ready, it tastes just like a ripe cider apple fresh from the orchard on a cool autumnal morning and is SO refreshing in the mid-summer heat. Leave it to sit for 2 minutes before serving so it just begins to melt and the cider starts to pool at the base.           

Ingredients:

• 750ml bottle conditioned sweet cider - such as a 3% Normandy demi sec (if you don’t have any sweet cider you can use use some apple juice, or even sugar to sweeten it).
• 1 Gala (or similar) apple

                          (serves 4-6)


Method:

Open the bottle and pour it into a suitable tray or flat bottomed bowl, sediment included. Using a medium cutting size, grate the outside edge of a sweet apple (like a Gala) into it. Don't grate more than half an inch in from around the outside of the apple (this is the sweetest bit) and discard the core. Stir the mixture evenly and distribute the apple pieces throughout the cider and place it all into the bottom of the freezer. 

After 50 minutes it should start to freeze - check it then and stir it gently with a fork to an even consistency - being sure to spread the apple bits around. Every 30 minutes, check it again - keep scraping the edges and stir the mix returning to an even consistency. It should start to look like rock salt - see picture below) before putting it back into the freezer. Repeat until ready (5 or 6  times) - its that simple!

Serve it in a steep sided glass such as a martini glass or a tumbler, with a teaspoon.