The frozen pomegranate juice produced on Kea had inspired me to make a granita/sorbet adding syrup scented with the rose geranium leaves from our garden.
The other day I came upon a couple of small jars of Rose Petal Jam that I had made a few seasons ago, and totally forgot.
Tasting them I found that they were still nicely fragrant, although their color had darkened somewhat. ‘Why don’t I use them, together with pomegranate juice, to make a rose-scented granita,’ I thought, and so this one was created.
You may need to add some good quality rose water, depending on the fragrance of the rose petal jam you use.
Our friends and guests loved this very fragrant granita, so here is my very simple basic recipe. You can adapt it depending on how sweet or tangy you prefer your desserts.
Serves 8-12
3 cups pure pomegranate juice –not sweetened or diluted
2/3 – 1 cup rose petal jam (homemade or store-bought) or to taste, depending on how sweet you like it
1-2 tablespoons rose water (optional)
2 tablespoons gin
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, taste and adjust the sweetness with more rose petal jam. If your jam is not fragrant enough, add a little rose water, to taste.
Transfer to one or two shallow containers so that the liquid is not thicker than 2/3 inch.
Freeze until solid, probably overnight. At some point most granita recipes suggest that you scrape with a fork the solidified concoction after 2-3 hours. But if you forget about it, just leave a few minutes at room temperature to soften, before you serve it, then scrape it.
Store in the freezer in a container with a tight fitting lid; it keeps for up to 6 months, if you manage to resist devouring it…
Serve decorating with rose petals, if you like.
