Greedy Girl : Pineapple Schweppes Grapefruit Granita

Cookout and BBQ Season!

So a few posts ago I attempted to recreate my childhood sky juice to no avail but I refused to accept the defeat. After all no summer is complete without an icy beverage to cool you down. While the watermelonade is refreshing, an icy slush of sugar and fruit is even more so.

While 'googling' how to make shaved ice without an expensive machine, I came across some images of granitas Duh!! Why didn't I think of this before? Freezing the actual juice eliminates having to find shaved ice. Not to mention how ridiculously easy the method is; with an ingredient list of two items. That’s it ; some sweet pineapples diced into tiny bits and one bottle of Schweppes grapefruit soda.

This specific grapefruit soda is my latest obsession. I have been seeing people drink it all the time, and would decline when offered. There is a Jamaican grapefruit soda called 'Ting' that I dislike and assumed they would taste the same. My boyfriend was drinking a bottle of it one night, and I just randomly decided to taste it. It has a really nice refreshing grapefruit flavor without the bitter aftertaste. I know soda is not the healthiest beverage option, but this one right here? I will venture to say its more refreshing than an ice cold Pepsi.

A granita is basically a sugary liquid usually fruit based, frozen and raked with a fork over time as it freezes, it then produces these little sweet ice granules. I knew immediately I wanted to use the grapefruit soda. And the best part is the soda is already sweet. So there is no need to make simple syrup, wait on it to cool, or any of the typical methods. Little chunks of pineapple in each bite would pair well with the grapefruit flavor, so I opted to dice them finely instead of blending.

Serves 4 or 1 :)

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 bottle of Schweppes grapefruit soda

½ cup of finely diced fresh pineapples

Instructions:

Peel pineapple and slice into thin cubes
Pour pineapples and a bottle of soda into a shallow plastic/glass dish
Put in the freezer, check every 45 minutes to an hour and rake with a fork
Repeat this until all the liquid has hardened and turned into little granules
Serve or cover the container for storage

Liquid stage

After 1 hour

After 2.5 hours

After 5 hours

Over night, finished

Greedy Tips:

Soda takes a while to initially freeze. It does not freeze until the carbonation is gone, but it leaves behind the flavors
Use fresh pineapples not canned. The canned versions are too sweet and lack the citrus bite found in fresh pineapples

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Previous July Posts: BBQ & Cookout recipes