Cider lolly granita with chocolate biscuit sticks
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Easy
- July 2014

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Serves 8
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Hands-on time 30 min, oven time 10-15 min, plus cooling and freezing
For adults only – a take on the old-fashioned cider lolly; in this case as a granita with chocolate biscuit sticks, will refresh your memory of summers past.
- Calories
- 331 kcals
- Fat
- 9.9g fat (6.2g saturated)
- Protein
- 1.6g protein
- Carbohydrates
- 53g carbs (46.5g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.8g fibre
- Salt
- 0.2g salt
Ingredients
- 1l dry cider (we used Old Rosie Cloudy Scrumpy)
- 250g light brown muscovado sugar
For the chocolate biscuit sticks
- 70g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 60g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 100g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids) to dip
- Demerara sugar for sprinkling
Method
- Gently heat the cider and muscovado sugar together in a medium saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
- Pour the cooled cider mixture into a small roasting tin, about 1.5 litres in volume and 4cm deep. Cover with foil, then put in the freezer. Every 2 hours or so, scrape the icy edges of the cider mixture with a fork to break up any ice crystals. Repeat until fully frozen (about 6 hours).
- Heat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/ gas 4. For the chocolate biscuit sticks, combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, butter, milk and vanilla with a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp water in a mixing bowl to make a soft dough. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth, then roll out to 0.5cm thick.
- Cut the dough into 8cm x 1cm rectangles, then put on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Using a small sharp knife, shape the ends of the biscuits so they resemble lolly sticks.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (or in short bursts in a microwave set to low), then transfer to a small container deep enough to dunk three-quarters of the biscuits (we used a shot glass). Dip the biscuits into the chocolate to coat, sprinkle with the demerara sugar, then leave to set on baking paper.
- To serve, use a fork to break up the granita again, then divide among small glasses or coffee cups. Serve with the chocolate biscuit sticks.
delicious. tips
To save time you can make the granita in an ice cream machine, if you have one. The texture will be softer and more sorbet-like, but it will taste just as good.
Be gentle when shaping and dipping the biscuits – their crumbly texture means they can snap easily.
Obviously, the cider granita is not for children – cloudy apple juice works well as an alternative to cider.
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