My Pantry Shelf

There is sense and order to the world.  Need proof?  The ripening of winter citrus.  It is the darkest days of the year that bring us the brightly colored, terrifically acidic oranges and lemons, limes and grapefruit, or at my house…  buckets upon buckets of satsuma mandarins.  Not familiar with satsumas?  They are a small orange with a sweet tart bite.  They are similar to the other easy-peel small citrus, such as clementines, that are sold in boxes at all the grocery stores right now.  In fact, this recipe could easily be used with those little cuties or even a standard orange variety.Satsuma Granita is the ultimate anti-winter.  Fresh-squeezed satsuma juice is mixed with a touch of lemon juice and bit of ginger-infused simple syrup.  The mixture is frozen and fluffed, then gently packed back into the peels of the satsumas.  Fun to look at, even more fun to eat, these balls of cool orangey ice will make you forget it is the middle of winter.  As my kids said, “They are like snow cones, only BETTER!”  They are also remarkably easy to make.  If you happen to have young children underfoot that have run out of engaging indoor activities, by all means put them to work!  My daughter happily monkeyed up the tree to pick the fruit before juicing the lug of fruit.  What delicious fun!

Satsuma Granita

makes 12 serves 4

adapted from Martha Stewart

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 slice (1/4 inch thick) peeled fresh ginger (optional)

20 satsumas

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine the sugar,water and ginger in a small saucepan.  Warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the cups from the peels, cut the top inch or so off of the top of 12 of the satsumas.  Use a spoon to gently scoop out the flesh while taking care not to rip the peel. Place the peel cups on a baking tray and freeze until solid.

Squeeze the juice from the flesh you removed as well as the tops.  Halve the other satsumas and juice until you have 2 cups of juice.  Combine the cooled sugar syrup (discard the ginger) with 2 cups satsuma juice and the lemon juice.  Stir to combine.  Pour the mixture into a non-reactive 8 inch square baking dish.  Freeze until solid.

Once solid, scrape a fork across the surface to fluff up granita.  Scoop the fluffy ice into the frozen peel cups.  Serve immediately or keep frozen for up to one day.

Print this recipe:  Satsuma Granita

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