
The start of summer and time for parades, speeches and old fashioned fun. The garden is a sauna, with a heat advisory in place for later in the day. I'm always nostalgic this time of year, memories of childhood summers, rolling down grass banks, the thwock of tennis balls, hot sticky days on the beach and the music of the ice-cream van. I miss cones of soft white ice-cream with a cadbury's flake in the middle, but in reality would rather a refreshing dish of Italian gelatto.
Lemon Granita
On hot summer days, lemon granita is delicious served with biscotti or even spooned onto brioche for breakfast. Easy to find on the streets of Rome, more difficult in Philadelphia but making your own is fairly simple.
Ingredients
9fl oz water
17oz golden granulated or caster sugar
7 large Amalfi lemons 9 (if you can find them, ordinary lemons will do), about 18fl oz juice
5fl oz soda water
Make a sugar syrup by heating the water and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Zest the lemons directly into the warm syrup (if you grow your own lemon trees and have any leaves you can wash one or two and add them to the warm syrup where they will release their rather peppery oils). Squeeze the lemons, strain the juice and add it to the syrup, removing the leaves if used. Stir in the cold soda water and refrigerate the mixture for 20 minutes.
Freeze in a stainless-steel container (a rectangular one is best) and stir with a fork every hour or so, making sure you pay attention to the sides where the mixture can quickly freeze solid. Once the mixture is firm and frozen, cover with parchment paper so that the granita is not exposed to the freezer air and wrap in cling film.
To serve, place the granita in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrape along the top with a heavy-duty ice-cream scoop or metal spoon to create slushy ice crystals.
Top the granita with candied lemon peel and serve with sweetened whipped cream with a tablespoon of marsala.
Lemon Granita
On hot summer days, lemon granita is delicious served with biscotti or even spooned onto brioche for breakfast. Easy to find on the streets of Rome, more difficult in Philadelphia but making your own is fairly simple.
Ingredients
9fl oz water
17oz golden granulated or caster sugar
7 large Amalfi lemons 9 (if you can find them, ordinary lemons will do), about 18fl oz juice
5fl oz soda water
Make a sugar syrup by heating the water and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Zest the lemons directly into the warm syrup (if you grow your own lemon trees and have any leaves you can wash one or two and add them to the warm syrup where they will release their rather peppery oils). Squeeze the lemons, strain the juice and add it to the syrup, removing the leaves if used. Stir in the cold soda water and refrigerate the mixture for 20 minutes.
Freeze in a stainless-steel container (a rectangular one is best) and stir with a fork every hour or so, making sure you pay attention to the sides where the mixture can quickly freeze solid. Once the mixture is firm and frozen, cover with parchment paper so that the granita is not exposed to the freezer air and wrap in cling film.
To serve, place the granita in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrape along the top with a heavy-duty ice-cream scoop or metal spoon to create slushy ice crystals.
Top the granita with candied lemon peel and serve with sweetened whipped cream with a tablespoon of marsala.

Watermelon Ice
A slice of ripe watermelon, chilled in the fridge, is the essence of summer. Making it into a ice cream seems almost redundant, but they can make a delicious thirst quenching water ice. The pallid tasting stuff from Rita's Ice is a far cry from the glasses you find in Italy, often studded with fresh jasmine flowers and sprinkled with coarsely grated dark chocolate to resemble the missing pips. Much better to make your own, with a pinch of salt that cuts through the sweetness of the fruit like a good margarita.
Ingredients
2lb 4oz watermelon flesh
generous pinch of salt
juice of 2 limes
2oz golden granulated or caster sugar
6oz dark chocolate, coarsely grated (optional to sprinkle on top)
Process the watermelon flesh in a blender with the salt and lime juice. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a stainless-steel container or plastic tub. Using the back of a ladle, push it through and strain out all of the remnants of pips. Stir in the sugar, and keep stirring until it has dissolved.
Place the container in the freezer and freeze, stirring with a fork every hour or so making sure to stir in any frozen mixture on the sides, if not mixed well while freezing, the water will separate from the fruit, creating white patches in the granita.
Serve with a straw on hot days so you can suck it up when it starts to melt. It is nice to serve this in waxed paper cups on a hot day, with straws for sucking it up when it starts to melt.
A slice of ripe watermelon, chilled in the fridge, is the essence of summer. Making it into a ice cream seems almost redundant, but they can make a delicious thirst quenching water ice. The pallid tasting stuff from Rita's Ice is a far cry from the glasses you find in Italy, often studded with fresh jasmine flowers and sprinkled with coarsely grated dark chocolate to resemble the missing pips. Much better to make your own, with a pinch of salt that cuts through the sweetness of the fruit like a good margarita.
Ingredients
2lb 4oz watermelon flesh
generous pinch of salt
juice of 2 limes
2oz golden granulated or caster sugar
6oz dark chocolate, coarsely grated (optional to sprinkle on top)
Process the watermelon flesh in a blender with the salt and lime juice. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a stainless-steel container or plastic tub. Using the back of a ladle, push it through and strain out all of the remnants of pips. Stir in the sugar, and keep stirring until it has dissolved.
Place the container in the freezer and freeze, stirring with a fork every hour or so making sure to stir in any frozen mixture on the sides, if not mixed well while freezing, the water will separate from the fruit, creating white patches in the granita.
Serve with a straw on hot days so you can suck it up when it starts to melt. It is nice to serve this in waxed paper cups on a hot day, with straws for sucking it up when it starts to melt.

Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream
For all chocoholics this ice cream fits the bill. It's incredibly simple to make and relatively low fat though with an intense flavor. Sicilians use cornflour instead of egg as a thickener in gelati as it's cheaper and lighter to digest. It also doesn't inhibit the flavors of the other ingredients as egg can.
Ingredients
16fl oz whole milk
1/2 oz cornflour
1¾oz good quality cocoa powder
2¾oz golden granulated or caster sugar
pinch of salt
Mix 4 oz of the milk with the cornflour to a smooth paste. Set aside. Mix together the cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Heat the remaining milk to simmering point, then pour in a steady stream over the cocoa mixture, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Return the mixture to the stove in a stainless-steel pan, cooking over a very low heat at barely simmering point. Stir the bottom constantly to prevent burning. Cook for six minutes, then add the blended cornflour, whisking again to prevent lumps. Return to a simmer and cook for two minutes until thickened and smooth.
Strain the mixture into a clean container and cool in an ice-water bath, stirring often to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least four hours (this 'ages' the ice cream so that the water and fat cells mingle and the ice cream has better body and melts more slowly once frozen).
Freeze and churn in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Serve with cashew nuts and a pinch of lightly toasted ancho chilli seeds ground up with sea salt, or with sweetened whipped cream and grated dark chocolate.
For all chocoholics this ice cream fits the bill. It's incredibly simple to make and relatively low fat though with an intense flavor. Sicilians use cornflour instead of egg as a thickener in gelati as it's cheaper and lighter to digest. It also doesn't inhibit the flavors of the other ingredients as egg can.
Ingredients
16fl oz whole milk
1/2 oz cornflour
1¾oz good quality cocoa powder
2¾oz golden granulated or caster sugar
pinch of salt
Mix 4 oz of the milk with the cornflour to a smooth paste. Set aside. Mix together the cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Heat the remaining milk to simmering point, then pour in a steady stream over the cocoa mixture, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Return the mixture to the stove in a stainless-steel pan, cooking over a very low heat at barely simmering point. Stir the bottom constantly to prevent burning. Cook for six minutes, then add the blended cornflour, whisking again to prevent lumps. Return to a simmer and cook for two minutes until thickened and smooth.
Strain the mixture into a clean container and cool in an ice-water bath, stirring often to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least four hours (this 'ages' the ice cream so that the water and fat cells mingle and the ice cream has better body and melts more slowly once frozen).
Freeze and churn in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Serve with cashew nuts and a pinch of lightly toasted ancho chilli seeds ground up with sea salt, or with sweetened whipped cream and grated dark chocolate.