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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Raspberry, Lychee & Pink Moscato Granita

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It's New Year's Eve! And what better way to toast the new year than with a refreshing, boozy dessert? This may be the simplest recipe I've ever posted on this blog, it's even easier than ice kacang, though a little more time intensive. But so pretty!
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I have had a lot of bad luck when it comes to New Year's Eve. The one I remember the most is getting food poisoning from some dodgy chicken rice while up at Genting Highlands (a casino/theme park in Malaysia) when I was a little tween, and ended up spending the entire night and some of the morning throwing up. And then there's all the other years where epic plans have been made, only to fall apart at the last second. So in recent years I've kept it quiet, planned very little and kept my expectations low. I also don't do New Year's resolutions, they never work out well for me.
While I was trying to think of a nice dessert to make for A & I, I realised I didn't want anything fancy, or complicated, or anything that needed assembling or heating at the last minute. This is the perfect thing for a New Year's Eve party, it's so easy and only has three ingredients, but has a fabulous colour and flavour, and a little bit of booze. It's a nice refreshing way to wash down any greasy party food you might feel like eating first. Serve it in some cocktail glasses, or shot glasses if you just want to use it as a palate cleanser, or in big plastic cups with fat plastic straws if you want to serve it as a slushie! Yep, granita is just a fancy word for a slushie ;) (Unfortunately I only had my cheapo wine glasses in my apartment for the photos!)
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Raspberry, Lychee & Pink Moscato Granita
400g frozen raspberries
1 can lychees in syrup
1 bottle Pink Moscato or any sweet sparkling white or rose
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Place raspberries and the sugar syrup from the lychee can in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring regularly. Finely dice half the lychees and add it (plus any juices that might escape during chopping) to the saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Strain mixture into a bowl using a fine sieve or a piece of muslin.
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Um...Just realising this photo looks a bit gruesome...
Pour mixture into a wide, shallow freezable tray or container (make sure you clear your freezer so it has a enough space for the container to sit flat) and add the whole bottle of wine and quickly stir together. I used pink moscato because it's that lovely girly pink and has a very sweet, floral flavour which matches well with the lychee and raspberry.
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Place in the freezer and at intervals of about 30 mins or so, use a fork to mash up any large crystals of ice that form in the dish. The further apart your intervals, the coarser the texture of your granita will be.
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Keep doing this until the mixture is completely frozen, and use your fork to 'fluff' up the granita. (I fell asleep before it completely froze, so my granita was very very coarse. But it still works!) Before serving, use your fork to 'fluff' up the granita once more, then serve topped with fresh fruits or more of the canned lychees. I had wanted to serve mine with fresh lychees and raspberries, but I never seem to find them when I need them.
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Happy New Year!! Have a fun (but not tooooo boozy) night and I'll see you next year :)

19 comments:

  1. Yum! Is that a Riedel O glass? I used one in today's story too! :P Lol at gruesome pic but when the end is like that, we don't mind a bit! Happy New Year Steph! :D

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  2. Haha no way, I'm far too much of a cheapskate to have Riedel glasses, mine are just extremely cheap wine glasses!

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  3. oooh i love the pinkness! happy new year and all the best for 2010 dude!

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  4. hmmm.. seriously contemplating doing this for a BBQ tomorrow :) sounds easy enough and looks great !!!

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  5. That's a very sexy dessert! So easy too!

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  6. Ummm rosé and lychee? I'm so there! Looks marvellous! Have a fabulous new year to you and A. First thing in 2010, we'll hit up some Jap yeah? Lol. xx

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  7. I think my heart may have skipped a beat when I saw your picture! It is a gorgeous dish and a great way to celebrate the new year!

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  8. Such a pretty granita! I love the colours and the flavour combination sounds amazing - and it all looks pretty easy to make!

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  9. Wishing you a very happy new year, Steph! It's been a pleasant to know you and share many laughter about R Patz and food journey :)

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  10. I have all of these ingredients in my house! I could totally make these tonight! I am however feeling super lazy and think I'll just drink the rose and eat the lychees :D

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  11. its looks so delicious..love the recipe!!
    Wishing u a very happy new year!!

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  12. Very pretty, and an oh-so-apt end to 2009 with champagne AND raspberries, or raspberris, as the case may be :)

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  13. Happy new year! The only way to celebrate is with a glass or two of bubbly stuff. And if it's frozen, then that's even better.

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  14. A beautiful creation to end the year, well done Steph. Looking forward to more outings with you in 2010! Happy New year!

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  15. It's pink, it's cooling AND it's boozy - what's not to love about that?! Happy new year again, Steph!

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  16. Looks so lovely and refreshing! I totally blame you for my addiction to Pink Moscato, by the way :)

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  17. so pretty and pink! happy new year steph!

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  18. chocolatesuze - The pinker the better! Aw same to you, Happy New Year!

    YW - Ooh did you end up doing it? It's even better when you stir a whole extra can of lychees through it :)

    Brenda - I love things that are this easy!

    Karen - Yes, definitely need a sushi fix soon!

    Trissa - Aww Trissa you are too sweet! Thank you and happy new year :)

    Jacq - Thank you! Lychee and anything pink works in my opinion, I was surprised how easy it was!

    Ellie - Same to you Ellie! Haha I'm more there will be plenty more of that this year!

    Conor - Haha fair enough, I would probably do that too if I hadn't decided to do this the night before

    B & D - Thank you so much! Happy New Year!

    Helen - You gotta have something sparkling at the end of the year :) Haha nono it's definitely not raspberris :P

    Belle - I agree! Hehehe the frozen just means it doesn't seem as strong, I love it!

    billy - Thanks! I loved your moscato jellies, will have to 'steal' that recipe from you soon :) Happy New Year!

    mademoiselle délicieuse - Exactly! I like the way you think :) HAppy New Year!

    Lisa - Hahaha well it's only fair, you got me addicted to ginger beer!

    panda - :) Thanks! Happy New Year!

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  19. I will definitely try this - maybe I'll even make it today, I too love the concept of pairing lychee and raspberry flavours. The color is amazing! I’m making blackcurrant sorbet right now – we both have frozen desserts on the mind

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