Watermelon Cranberry Granita

Watermelon Cranberry Granita is light, refreshing, and easy to make!

This post is sponsored by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

Oh, Christmas. I am so not ready for you right now.

Usually, I really enjoy the Christmas music on the radio, the bedazzled displays at the mall, and all of the general merry-ness that comes along with the holiday season. But lately I've been so busy with work that I haven't really been able to enjoy it. Didn't we just finish Thanksgiving?

So when the National Watermelon Promotion Board asked me to come up with a festive watermelon recipe, I was stuck. Isn't watermelon a summer fruit anyhow? Well, no. In reality, you can actually find fresh watermelon at your favourite grocery all year! Who knew?

After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with this super cool watermelon cranberry granita recipe. (Pun totally intended!)

While watermelon granita is a fairly popular recipe, it felt a bit too summery on its own. Pomegranate juice would have been nice, but I was really feeling cranberry juice for this recipe. Adding cranberry juice to the mix not only adds a nice tart flavour, but it makes the granita a bit more pink too. Win, win! A little lime juice also helps to make this light dessert extra refreshing.

This is totally going to become my go-to dessert for holiday parties. Think about it, first you're going to munch on all of those cute little appetizers. You'll tell yourself you'll just have a couple, and the next thing you know your plate if full of stuffed mushroom caps, roasted tomato crostini, and smoked salmon canapés. I'm definitely that person who fills up on the apps - they're the best part of any holiday party!

Then comes dinner, which is likely going to consist of some kind of heavy starch (probably mashed potatoes), maybe some roasted Brussels sprouts, and turkey/ham/pot roast. After all of that, everyone still wants dessert but no one really has room for it. That's where this watermelon cranberry granita is going to save the day.

This watermelon cranberry granita is genius for three reasons: First, it's super easy to make. Secondly, it's low in calories and easy on the tummy. Third, and perhaps most importantly, it's hydrating. After downing a few glasses of eggnog or mulled wine, you're going to appreciate the high water content of the watermelon in this recipe!

If you're looking for more fun watermelon recipes, you should definitely check out Watermelon.org.

Recipe Card

Watermelon Cranberry Granita

Recipe By: Shareba Abdul

5 from 1 vote

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Servings: 8

Prep Time: 6 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 6 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

This light and refreshing dessert is a great way to end a big meal.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

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Ingredients

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• ▢ 8 cups watermelon chunks, , about half of a large watermelon
• ▢ 2 tablespoon white sugar, , plus extra for adjusting the flavour
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ▢ 2 dashes Angostura bitters, , optional

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Instructions

1. Place a few handfuls of watermelon chunks into a food processor (or a powerful blender) and process until smooth. Keep adding chunks until you've processed all of the watermelon.
2. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl, and discard the remaining pulp and seeds.
3. Add the sugar to the watermelon juice and stir until dissolved. Then stir in cranberry juice, lime juice and bitters (if using).
4. Taste the mixture and add more sugar if required, making sure to stir until dissolved.
5. Pour into 2 rectangular bread pans, and place uncovered in the freezer.
6. Freeze the mixture until ice begins to form around edges of pan, which takes about 2 hours.
7. Scrape the mixture with a metal spoon or fork to break up the ice, then return to freezer.
8. Continue scraping the mixture every 30 minutes until it has completely crystallized and is granular in appearance. This should take about 3-4 hours total, depending on the depth of your pans.
9. The granita can be kept in the freezer until ready to serve. Be sure to scrape again to loosen the ice crystals immediately before serving.
10. Garnish with sugared cranberries and watermelon slices, if desired.
11. Store leftovers in the freezer for up to one week.

Notes

Tip:

Some watermelons are sweeter than others. Be sure to taste your mixture and make sure you're happy with the level of sweetness before freezing! Also, remember that foods taste less sweet after they have been frozen.

Please note that the nutritional information for this recipe is only an estimate, and has been calculated using a plugin. 

Please read the full blog post for all of my tips, variations, and recommendations for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories587kcalCarbohydrates148gProtein8gFat2gSodium17mgPotassium1556mgFiber5gSugar130gVitamin A7035IUVitamin C126.6mgCalcium105mgIron3.5mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary depending on specific ingredients and brands used. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

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Disclosure:
This post is sponsored by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
Sponsored posts like this one provide financial support that helps me to create new content for this blog.