Granita with Brioche

Ingredients

• 250 ml Water
• 150 g Sugar
• 200 ml Lemon juice
• 1 lemon Lemon zest
• 4 pieces Brioche

Steps

1. Pour 250 g of water into a small saucepan with 150 g of sugar and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved: it must not boil.
2. Turn off the heat and let this syrup cool to lukewarm.
3. Wash the untreated lemons and grate the zest of one lemon, avoiding the bitter white pith.
4. Then squeeze the lemons until you have 200 g of juice and strain it through a sieve.
5. Stir the strained lemon juice and grated zest into the now-cooled syrup, mixing well.
6. Taste it: it should be very fragrant and slightly sweeter than the final taste, because cold dulls the sweetness.
7. Pour the mixture into a low, wide metal or plastic container and place it in the freezer.
8. After about 40 minutes, once the first crystals have formed at the edges, break them up with a fork and stir vigorously, bringing the ice back toward the centre.
9. Repeat this every 30-40 minutes for about 3-4 hours, breaking up the crystals each time with the fork: you will get a granita with a grainy, creamy texture, never a solid block.
10. Cut the brioche col tuppo in half horizontally and, if you like, warm it slightly.
11. Fill it with plenty of the freshly stirred lemon granita.
12. Serve the granita in the brioche right away, with the classic tuppo on the side for dipping: it is the Sicilian breakfast par excellence.

Tips

• Don't skip the periodic stirring: it is the secret of true Sicilian granita. If you let the mixture freeze undisturbed you'll get a block of ice, not the creamy, grainy texture.
• Use untreated Sicilian lemons and favour freshly squeezed juice: this is where all the granita's aroma comes from.
• If the granita has hardened too much, blitz it for a few seconds with an immersion blender or a fork just before serving to make it creamy again.