Simple Honeydew Melon and Yuzu Granita With Mint
Discover how easy it is to make a beautiful frozen ice dessert with this honeydew melon and yuzu granita recipe. This delicious granita combines pale green melon with punchy yuzu citrus juice and a hint of mint for a wonderful combination of colour and flavour. It’s a perfect treat or dessert for a hot summer day, or makes a sophisticated palate cleanser for a dinner party. This citrus flavoured ice dessert is naturally gluten free, dairy free and vegan too.
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What is granita?
Granita is a semi-frozen dessert, with light and fluffy flakes of ice. It’s very different to a sorbet or ice-cream, Granita is a usually made with simple sugar syrup, citrus and other fruits or flavours. Most popular is lemon granita, a common sight in Italy and the Amalfi Coast. But granita can be made with many different flavour combinations.
People usually enjoy granita as a cold treat or dessert, but it also makes a refreshing palette cleanser between courses.
No ice cream maker required
Frozen desserts are often made with special ice cream makers or appliances. Luckily, granita is so simple to make in just a metal pan or baking dish and a fork. (A metal pan is best as it helps the ingredients freeze quickly and evenly). The fluffy ice texture is created by regularly raking the mixture with a fork as it freezes.
This honeydew melon and yuzu granita will need a blender to blitz the melon. You could use just an immersion or stick blender. I used my Breville Kitchen Wizz food processor to blend everything together.
Honeydew melon and yuzu granita ingredients
To make melon and yuzu granita. you’ll only need a handful of ingredients:
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh mint
- 4 cups of ripe honeydew melon, cut into cubes (about 1/2 a melon)
- 1/3 cup yuzu juice (fresh or bottled)
- Additional mint sprigs for garnish
What is yuzu and where to find it
Yuzu is a yellow citrus fruit grown in Japan, Korea and China. It’s similar in size to a tangerine and is very fragrant. The rind is thicker than lemon, and the flavour is more sour. Some say it tastes similar to a mix of grapefruit, lemon and orange.
Depending on where you live, and the seasons, it may be hard to find fresh yuzu fruit. Asian grocers often stock yuzu in season. Otherwise, it’s completely fine to use bottled yuzu juice in this recipe.
If you can’t find yuzu juice either, you can substitute with a combination of other citrus juices instead. Try a mix of lemon and lime, or orange and grapefruit to make a similar combination of acidic and sour tastes.
Method
Make the sugar syrup: Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the mixture starts to simmer gently. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the mint sprigs to the saucepan. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled, remove the mint sprigs and discard.
Prepare the honeydew melon by removing any seeds and cutting into approximately 1 inch cubes.
Place honeydew melon, sugar syrup and yuzu juice in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Pour the melon mixture into a rectangular tin or baking dish (about 9 x 13 inches or 23 x 33cm) and spread evenly. Place in the freezer for about 1 hour.
After an hour, remove the dish from the freezer and scrape the granita mixture with a fork to create ice flakes before returning to the freezer. Repeat this process every 45 minutes for about 3 hours.
Use a fork to scrape the granita immediately before serving. Serve in small chilled dishes and garnish with additional mint.
Serves 6.
Making ahead and storage
Honeydew melon and lime granita is best made and enjoyed the same day while the consistency of the ice is light and fluffy. If you do want to make it a few days in advance, just make sure to scrape again with a fork to the right consistency before serving.
Left over granita can be kept in the freezer in a well covered container for up to a month.
More citrus inspired recipes
For more refreshing citrus granita ideas, you’ll love our strawberry and lime granita sweetened with maple syrup and our grapefruit granita with vanilla and thyme. Or for more citrus dessert ideas, try our citrus fruit salad with vanilla cardamom syrup and more in our collection of citrus fruit salad ideas.
Explore of our collection of yuzu recipes for more ways to use the unique flavour of yuzu citrus.
There are lots more tasty citrus recipes to try on our recipes page.
And don’t forget to subscribe for more citrus inspiration for your kitchen, garden and home.
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Simple Honeydew Melon and Yuzu Granita With Mint
Equipment
- 1 small saucepan
- 1 chopping board and knife
- 1 food processor or blender
- 1 9 x 13in (23 x 33 cm) metal cake tin or baking tray
- 1 fork
- measuring cups
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 sprigs mint
- 4 cups honeydew melon, seeds removed, cubed (about 1/2 melon)
- 1/3 cup yuzu juice (or substitute mix of lemon/lime juice)
- Additional mint to garnish
Instructions
- Make the sugar syrup: Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the mixture starts to simmer gently. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the mint sprigs to the saucepan. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled, remove the mint sprigs and discard.
- Prepare the honeydew melon by removing any seeds and cutting into approximately 1 inch cubes.
- Place honeydew melon, sugar syrup and yuzu juice in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour the melon mixture into a rectangular tin or baking dish (about 9 x 13 inches or 23 x 33cm) and spread evenly. Place in the freezer for about 1 hour.
- After an hour, remove the dish from the freezer and scrape the granita mixture with a fork to create ice flakes before returning to the freezer. Repeat this process every 45 minutes for about 3 hours.
- Use a fork to scrape the granita immediately before serving. Serve in small chilled dishes and garnish with additional mint.
My family love this melon and yuzu granita on a hot summer day