We are smack in middle of the dog days of summer: It’s hot, it’s humid, and the sun shines until 9 PM. Well, that's likely the case for most of you. I live in Colorado -- not in Denver where it's 100 degrees, but up in the mountains of Summit County, where the high for today was 62.
While I may not be sweating my butt off, I am still taking advantage of summer the best way I know how: with lots of homemade ice cream, summer berries, cherries, and now, homemade Italian ice, too.
Some day I will make it to Italy for the summer, but until then, I can make myself some Italian ice and pretend I am walking the streets of Rome. The great thing about this recipe is that it's so easy: It takes just minutes to prepare, and there's no special ice cream maker required. Just use a blender or food processor, then let the freezer do the heavy lifting.
Makes 4 cups
3 cups fresh fruit of your choice
2 to 4 tablespoons honey or granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 cups ice
Add the fruit (I used strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries), honey or sugar (I used 2 tablespoons of honey), lemon juice, and 2 cups of ice to the bowl of a food processor or a high-powered blender.
Blend the mixture until chunky, and then add the remaining cup of ice. Blend until completely smooth.
Pour the mixture into a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the Italian ice from the freezer and scrape it with a fork until slushy. Place it back in the freezer for another 2 hours.
After the 2 hours are up, you can scoop the ice into cups. If it's too frozen-solid to scoop, either let the ice sit out for 5 minutes so that it softens, or add it to a blender and blend until the mixture has a slushy consistency.
Scoop your Italian ice into cups and enjoy it with a colorful spoon. I highly recommend making multiple flavors, and serving them together for a real treat.
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photos by Tieghan Gerard
This article was written by Tieghan from Food52 and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
