Blueberry and rosemary. I stumbled upon this delicious combination when I was testing my granita recipes and used up the last of my homemade simple syrup. Instead of making another batch, I remembered that I had an assortment of Roots Kitchen & Cannery soda syrups left over from making holiday drinks.
Soda syrup is simple syrup, you just aren’t privy to the exact sugar concentration like you are if you make your own, so start with less and add more if you want sweeter. Find Roots syrups in Bozeman at Joe’s Parkway and Treeline, and probably other savvy retailers. You can also purchase through their webstore.
Granita is a homemade shave ice that you can make with a fork. My freezer is powerful, so I start seeing progress at the first 30 minutes. Depending on your freezer, it might take you longer to start seeing crystal formation. Stick with it though, it will work! Here are couple progress photos:
After 30 minutes freezing
After 1 hour freezing
And here’s how to make your own simple syrup:
Simple Syrup
makes about 1 ⅓ cups
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar + 1 cup water
Instructions: In a small saucepan, add water and sugar. Set over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer a couple minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Store syrup in glass container and refrigerate. (Do not cook much longer or you will make caramel – ha!) Refrigerate and use in coolers, cocktails, iced coffee, etc.
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 - 2 cups water
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup Roots Rosemary Syrup or homemade simple syrup, see notes
- optional: juice from 1 lime (not recommended if you use the rosemary syrup)
Instructions
- Using a blender, purée the blueberries with 1 cup water and 1/4 cup syrup, you should end up with about 3 cups of juice. Taste the purée and add additional syrup if you'd like it sweeter. Add additional water to make 4 cups blueberry juice.
- Pour into 8x8-inch glass baking pan and set in freezer. Every 30 minutes for the next 2 - 4 hours, scrape the mixture with a fork and return to freezer. The granita is done when it is slightly slushy, but frozen, with flakes of ice. Will keep 1 - 2 days in freezer. Bring to room temperature for a few minutes to soften before serving.
