Homemade Orange Granita

Orange you glad this is so easy to make?

This homemade orange granita recipe requires little more than orange juice and a fork. The result is a beautiful shaved ice dessert that looks and tastes fresh and fabulous.

Orange Granita Is Citrus Season’s Best Treat

It’s citrus season. And though oranges are available throughout the year, they are especially excellent in winter, when other competing fruit is scarce, and citrus tastes its best. This homemade orange granita recipe, or granité if you’re feeling French, takes fresh-squeezed orange juice to fresh heights. It’s the fresh and bright winter treat that requires little more than

1. A fork,
2. Orange juice, and
3. A little patience.

Love orange granité? You’ll also like: Strawberry Watermelon Agua Fresca and Homemade Lemonade

Homemade orange granita is great because, unlike ice cream or sorbet, it requires exactly zero special equipment. Also, granita is so easy that it barely requires a recipe.

Here are the basic steps: Combine fresh-squeezed orange juice with some simple syrup, then freeze it in a baking pan, stirring every 30 minutes or so until frozen.

How to Make Homemade Granita: Recipe Notes

Here are some good tips and notes about making homemade orange granita. It is very easy, but you’ll want to get it right.

Stir and Scrape the Orange Granita As It Freezes

Can’t I just freeze the mixture solid and scrape it? Technically, yes. But don’t. You want to stir and scrape the granita every 20 to 30 minutes until it is fully frozen into slushy form. Stirring frequently forms a soft, slushy ice texture instead of hard, small scrapings. Also, scraping a rock-hard granita will be unnecessarily time consuming and tiresome.

Why You Should Add Simple Syrup to the Orange Juice

You want to use the simple syrup in the granita along with the juice for two reasons.

One: the sugar content crystalizes the liquid differently upon freezing, and will create a better finished texture than if you just used juice.

Second: coldness dulls flavor. What may taste very sweet at room temperature will taste more bland when frozen. The sugar gives it a needed boost of flavor.

How to Make Lemon Granita and Blood Orange Granita Variations

• You can also make a lemon granita. Follow the same method, substituting lemonade for the orange juice. You should still do the simple syrup, and follow the same method.
• Blood orange granita looks especially gorgeous if you can find blood oranges. December through January are your best windows for finding these beauties.

How to Serve Granita in Natural Orange Cups

I love to put the empty orange “shells” to work after I juice the oranges by making these pretty serving cups. Here’s how:

• Remove the top quarter of the orange and reserve while you gently juice the orange.
• Scrape the orange “guts” from the juiced orange by running a small serrated knife around the pith line, and scrape with a spoon. I find a grapefruit spoon ideal. It is ok if some of the innards remain.
• Cut the very bottom from the orange so it sits flat. You only need to cut the barest amount. Cut too thickly, and you will make a hole in the bottom.

Did you make this homemade orange granita recipe? How was it?

More Beautiful Citrus Desserts:

• Poached Orange Ginger Cake
• Cranberry Orange Loaf Cake
• Cranberry Curd Holiday Tart

Print Recipe

Homemade Orange Granita

Orange granita, or granité If you're feeling French, is a refreshing, sweet citrus treat that requires little more than fresh orange juice, a fork, and a freezer. Learn how to make granita, and serve it In natural orange cups.

Prep Time15 mins

Freezing Time2 hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, French, Italian

Keywords:: citrus, dessert, granita, granité, orange, orange juice, sorbet

Servings: 4 to 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups fresh-squeezed orange juice (from about 6 oranges)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• glug of Cointreau or Grand Marnier, optional

Instructions

• Make a simple syrup by microwaving or cooking the sugar and water in a small pot, stirring, until all the sugar dissolves.
• Mix the simple syrup with the fresh orange juice and booze, if using, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into any kind of flat-bottomed, freezer safe dish, such as a brownie pan or casserole.
• Place in the freezer and stir and scrape with a fork every 20 to 30 minutes until fully frozen into a slushy sorbet consistency. Serve immediately.

To Make Natural Orange Cups

• After squeezing the juice, scrape the flesh from the oranges using a small serrated knife and a spoon. (I like to use a grapefruit spoon.)
• Trim the very bottom of the oranges with a sharp knife, to create a flat bottom for the oranges to stand upright. Fill with granita.

  TIP: The granita cups can be filled and frozen in advance until ready to serve.