Cool off with a fun twist on the classic Italian apertif, Negroni Granita is the perfect after dinner treat or serve it up at your summer barbecues! 

Hellooooo summer! You have certainly arrived like a lion! I swear one day it was 60 degrees, cloudy, chilly and a bit rainy.  The next, it was hot, humid and shorts and tank weather!  I’m not saying I miss the cold spring but I at least prefer a gradual increase into the hot weather, instead of it all hitting at once!

New York weather is always weird, we tend to have hot flashes here and there but it looks like summer weather is to say and I’m officially in cooling off mode.  One A/C unit has limited cooling off powers.   Therefore I turn to the next best option, frozen treats.

For the most part I’m an ice cream person when I really want something cooling but once in awhile I’ll change it up.  Especially when it involves booze and resembles Italian ices.

I actually created this Negroni Granita recipe last year for Food Fanatic but just never got around to posting it here.  I figure what better time than when the West coast is experiencing 100 degree weather and the East coast is approaching 100% humidity (okay fine maybe not yet but it sure feels like it.)?

Granitas are perhaps one of the easiest desserts you can make out there.  There’s no special equipment needed, just a little time and some patience to get the job done.

Traditionally speaking when you’re making a granita (aka the real Italian ice consisting of sugar, water and flavoring) you pour the mix into a pan and then scrape the edges up every 20-30 minutes to form the flaky crystals.

In this case, you don’t have to do any of that work.  The alcohol content keeps everything from freezing completely and so all you need to do is let it freeze overnight, take a fork to it when ready to serve and you are ready to go!

I also like to think of this a great introduction to the negroni cocktail.  Campari is quite bitter, too bitter for some people but the combination of of blood orange soda and simple syrup in the mix tones that bitterness down a bit.  If you’ve tried a negroni and wanted to like but didn’t, I say give this a try – it just might change your mind!

This Negroni Granita originally appeared on Food Fanatic.