Just Fork it Over...(and Over...and Over.) Cantaloupe Heaven!

Just Fork it Over…(and Over…and Over.) Cantaloupe Heaven!

Desserts / June 10, 2014

A fork is one of those amazing inventions. Important in a way that transcends most tools it elevated us from caveman fingers eaters to full blown snooty diners. Tines, (I love that word,) are to food what Cupid’s Arrows are to hearts and what sugar is to chocolate – transformational.

My latest tine tale begins with a cantaloupe that although appeared fine when wrapped upon by my knuckles in the produce aisle, turned out to be too ripe and a bit too mush even for an uber-loupe-lover like me. Then, while using my fork to create some pretty marks on the inside of my pie crust one day, it hit me that a Granita was the answer to my fruit woes. Cool, refreshing, colorful; this is a the grown-up answer to the Sno-Cone and you’ll have so much fun serving it.

It was easier than I ever thought, and although it’s a little high maintenance; scraping through the frozen tundra of orange mush every 30 minutes, it produced a very WOW-worthy dessert. Tine-ly Tenacious of me, don’t you think?

Cantaloupe Granita

Prep time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours

Ingredients:

1 large very ripe cantaloupe, cut into
small chunks, about 4 to 5 cups worth
1 C water
1 C sugar
10 – 12 fresh mint leaves
1 T rum (optional)
1 T lemon juice

Direction:

Bring water and sugar and mint leaves to boil, let boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for about 30 minutes. Strain the mint out of the simple syrup and place in blender. Cover with cantaloupe, add rum and lemon juice and pulse on puree until mostly smooth. (Small chunks are fine!) Pour into 9” by 13” glass dish. Place in freezer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, begin scraping the top layer of iced fruit into chunks. Repeat every 30 minutes until you are able to flake up all the frozen fruit concoction. It can sit in the freezer for a couple of days, covered. Serve in chilled glasses with a sprig of mint.