Recipe by Nikola Volfova

A refreshing granita for those hot summer days! Using Scots pine cones, basil, lime & kiwi. And, a little vodka.. we’re not alcoholics I promise! The alcohol helps the mixture from freezing in to a solid block.

Ingredients

• 300g Washed green cones

• 1kg Water

• 150g Caster sugar

• 85g White rum

• 30 Basil leaves (removed from stem)

• 2 Ripe kiwis (flesh only)

• 3 limes (juice only)

Method

Step 1

In a pan add the cones and water together and pop on a high heat. Reduce this by half. You should be left with 500g of infused water. Pass this through a fine sieve.

Step 2

Return the infused water back to a clean pan with the addition of 250g caster sugar & cook until the sugar has dissolved. Pop the mixture in to the freezer to cool down.

Step 3

With a blender (hand blender is fine), blend the rum, basil leaves, kiwi & lime juice together until fully blended.

Be careful not to over blend as we don't want to loose that lovely green colour!

Pop this in the fridge until your pine syrup has cooled.

Step 4

Once both mixtures are nice and cool mix them together (this can again be done with a blender).

Step 5

Pop the mixture into the freezer and every 30 minutes or so, mix it around with a fork to create the granita style crystals and ensure an even distribution of ingredients.

Due to the addition of the rum, this mixture won't set rock hard. And there's no need to babysit it. It will be pliable any time you wish to use it. There's plenty of opportunities to add whichever spirit you like. Vodka or spiced rum would also work very well.