This granita is virtually a frozen champagne cocktail. It makes a refreshing ice to serve between starter and main or as a dessert. In this recipe I use freshly poached peaches but for convenience sake you may use canned ones
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Prep: 15 minutes plus 3 hours freezing
Cook: 6 Portions
Ingredients
Peach puree
4 ripe peaches
300ml boiling water
300g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
Champagne
750ml champagne
30ml peach schnapps
Method
Peach Puree: Place the boiling water and caster sugar in a saucepan and stir them together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the vanilla pod and peaches to the syrup and place the saucepan over a moderate heat. Bring the syrup to a simmer and reduce the temperature slightly. Leave the peaches to cook gently for 15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the peaches from the saucepan with a slotted spoon. Allow the peaches to cool slightly. Cut the peaches in half and remove the stones from them. Roughly dice the peaches and place them in a food processor or blender and puree them with 200ml of the cooking syrup. If using canned peaches puree them with their syrup. Set the puree aside until well cooled.
Granita: Mix the peach puree with the champagne and peach schnapps in a bowl until well combined. Place the mixture in a metal container or another freezer proof container and freeze it for 2 hours. Remove the mixture from the freezer and mash it with a fork then return it to the freezer for another couple of hours. Repeat the process and freeze the granita for 2-3 hours or until ready to serve.
To Serve: Remove the granita from the freezer 15 minutes before serving. Serve the granita in champagne glasses garnished with mint leaves.