JASMINE ICE

(Granita di Gelsomino)

Makes 12 small servings

675 g/1½ lb freshly picked jasmine flowers

1 litre/2 pints water

350 g/12 oz sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

Juice of 1 small lemon

Pick the flowers in the evening when they have just opened (you need a good-size jasmine vine to get this many flowers) and put them to soak for 12 hours in 850 ml/1½ pints of water, weighting the flowers down with a saucer or small plate on the surface to keep them submerged.

The next morning make a syrup of the sugar and 225 ml/8 fl oz of water, then allow it to cool. Filter the jasmine water through a fine sieve and blend it into the syrup, together with the cinnamon and the lemon juice. Pour into a metal tin and proceed as in granita di limone. A little of this highly perfumed granita goes a long way.

On the eastern coast, granita is more often known as cremolata, and the mostpopular flavour is that made from almond milk.

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