Blood Orange + Vanilla-Mint Granita Floats

Growing up, I LOVED granitas. My mom and I would make them pretty often, especially in the summertime. Granitas are essentially a liquid mixture that is frozen until solid and scraped so it turns into a sweet, refreshing, icy dessert— similar to a snow-cone. All you really need to make it is fruit, a liquid of some sort, and some sugar. The rest of the ingredients are just for fun — but definitely amp the flavor up.

Another nostalgic summer dessert for me is a root beer float. So for this recipe, I combined the two and made a granita float using La Croix. It turned out like a slushy, which was so fun and perfect for the mid-summer heat.

I love granitas for a lot of reasons, but one main reason is that they’re so easy to make and so easy to switch the flavors up. This one is a great transition dessert from the summer months into the fall and winter seasons with the slight bitterness from the blood orange and warmth from the vanilla. I absolutely love the combination of vanilla and mint in a simple syrup, especially when paired with citrus. You can save the leftover simple syrup for cocktails and other drinks, as well!

Blood Orange + Vanilla Mint Granita Floats

• 2 cups blood orange juice - fresh squeezed or bottled works

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 vanilla bean pods

• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

• scant 1/4 tsp. fine salt

• Sparkling flavored water of your choice - I used Passionfruit La Croix

First, prepare the simple syrup: Split the vanilla bean pods open by cutting vertically down the center using a small knife. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the vanilla beans scraped out of the inside out of the pods, the pods themselves, mint leaves, 1 cup water, and 1 cup sugar to a low boil, then turn down the heat and let the water simmer just until the sugar is completely dissolved. Take the saucepan off of the heat and let sit until slightly cooled, about. Strain the mixture and dispose the mint leaves and vanilla pods. Mix the blood orange juice in with the simple syrup, whisking until incorporated. Pour into a shallow container and freeze until completely frozen*.

Once frozen, use a fork to scrape the granita into an icy, snow-cone like consistency OR scoop if turned into a sorbet. Fill a glass up with the granita or sorbet and top off with your sparkling water.

*If desired, you can pour the mixture into an ice cream/sorbet maker to make sorbet instead of granita. Once formed into a sorbet, spread in a container and freeze until solid and ready to use.