Cherry Granita

You can make this using bottled cherry juice, but since the fruit is in season, I decided to use fresh.

You Will Need:

2 cups cherry juice (directions for extracting juice follow below)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
A generous squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

To extract juice from cherries:

Place pitted and lightly crushed cherries in a large pot. For each quart of cherries, add 1/4 cup water. Cover, and simmer until quite soft (about 30 minutes). Strain through a jelly bag, or a fine sieve lined with cheesecloth into a bowl.

Combine sugar and water in a pan and whisk over heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir into juice. Add lemon juice if using. Pour into a large glass or metal tray (mine is 9x13) and place in the freezer. Every 20 minutes, use a whisk to give it a stir, and break up the ice. When it can no longer be whisked, use a fork and continue until you get the texture you like (about 2 hours).

It keeps surprisingly well in a plastic container.