Granita

Granita needs no machine, only a shallow pan, a fork and a few trips to the freezer to scrape the ice into flakes. That coarse, light texture is the point: cleaner on the tongue than ice cream and grainier than sorbet. In Sicily it is a breakfast, eaten with a soft brioche for dipping, and traditional flavors include lemon, mandarin, coffee, almond, mint and pistachio. Coffee granita with a spoon of whipped cream is the easy place to start. Texture and flavors vary from town to town, so there is no single right grain; for a bigger batch, an ice cream maker does the stirring for you.