Serves: 6
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Description[]
When the temperatures are soaring, this is one dessert guaranteed to cool you down. Icy and tart combine with creamy sweetened ricotta cheese to provide an interesting flavor profile and a wonderful mouth feel. Serve in pretty stemmed glasses and garnish with a sprig of mint, if desired. This recipe is an adaptation of the original using powdered stevia (Truvia) in place of cane sugar. By all means, you may use cane sugar instead of stevia or other low or no calorie sweeteners. You may also use whole milk ricotta, if desired.
Ingredients[]
- 1 cup water
- 9 tbsp. + 2 1/2 tsp. Truvia**
- 2/3 cup strained fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup part-skim or fat free ricotta cheese
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lemon, for zesting
Directions[]
Stir the water and 9 tbsp. Truvia together in a medium saucepan over high heat just until the Truvia dissolves. Whisk in the lemon juice. Pour the lemon mixture into an 8 x 8" glass dish (do not use a metal pan, as the acidity from the lemon may ruin the pan). Cover and freeze, stirring occasionally, just until the liquid becomes slushy, about 2 hours. Using a fork, scrape the granita every 30 minutes until it is made up completely of ice crystals.
The granita can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cover and keep frozen, and scrape every now and then to keep the ice crystals loose.
When ready to serve, make the ricotta topping. Whisk the ricotta, remaining Truvia and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Spoon the granita into dessert bowls or stemmed glasses. Dollop the ricotta mixture on top and grate the lemon zest over each of the desserts. Serve immediately.
NOTE: The conversions to use Truvia in place of cane sugar can be a bit confusing. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp. sugar.
In this case, 3/4 cup = 36 teaspoons. 3/4 tsp. Truvia equals the sweetness of 2 tsp. cane sugar (this is specified by the manufacturer). Multiply the 36 tsp. by 3/4 to get 27 tsp. Since there are 3 tsp. in 1 tbsp., you must divide 27 by 3 to get 9 tbsp. To find the equivalent for the tablespoon of sugar, simply multiply 3 tsp. by 3/4 to get 2 1/4 tsp.
If all this math just makes you really confused, skip using the Truvia and just make it using the sugar - it will save you a headache!