2cups soft ripe fruit like cherries, berries, mangoes, or melons, picked over, pitted, peeled, washed, and/or dried as necessary; or 2 cups fruit juice, coffee, or coconut milk
Purée the fruit in a blender or food processor with a tablespoon or so of syrup; if you’re not using it, add some water if necessary to get the machine going. Strain the purée if there are lots of seeds or fibers. You should end up with a little less than 2 cups purée, but don’t stress about the exact quantity. Add lemon juice if you’re using it, or Simple Syrup, either to taste.
Pour into a large shallow metal pan or baking dish and freeze, using a fork to scrape and break up the ice every 30 minutes. It should be slushy and crunchy with ice crystals and completely frozen after about 2 hours. Serve right away or pack loosely in an airtight container and freeze for up to a week. When it becomes too hard, chop it into chunks with a mallet and pulse it just once or twice in a food processor.
Use one of these as your base and sweeten it as you like.
Pomegranate: 2 cups bottled or fresh pomegranate juice; splash fresh lemon juice or 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (optional)
Orange, Tangerine, or Grapefruit: 2 cups fresh juice, 1/2 teaspoon grated or finely minced zest
Watermelon-Basil: 2 cups chopped seeded watermelon, 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (purée together, then strain)
Green Apple–Lime: 1 cored, chopped Granny Smith apple (peeled if you like), 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon grated or finely minced lime zest (purée together to minimize browning)
Red Wine: 1 1/2 cups pinot noir, beaujolais, or other fruity wine, 1/2 cup water