Ice, Ice, Baby

There’s so much room for play in the world of granita, which makes it especially endearing during summer.

Even for those without a pressing sweet tooth, granita is an ideal dessert. Light, bright, and always enticing, it’s the perfect finale for pizza nights, pasta extravaganzas, and any other spicy or rich dishes. In Sicily, it’s often served alongside brioche for breakfast. Here, you’ll find less traditional ways to add a cold treat into the mix of enlivening summer meals—in other words, things that will leave you feeling less weighed down, more spruced up. Fresh cherries, ripe cantaloupe, and other layered fruits and toppings strike exactly the right balance of indulgence and simplicity. 

Pro tip: Before beginning any of the following recipes, take a look through your freezer. Be sure to make space to avoid a great granita upset—speaking from personal experience, reorganizing is synonymous with spilling when there’s a shallow dish full of sticky liquid in your hands, and granita is meant to be delightful, not disastrous. Garnish each bowl as you please, with everything from citrus zest and grated dark chocolate to crème fraîche and chili flakes.