Boozy Watermelon Granitas

I'm smack dab in the middle of some serious summer vacationing.  Last week, we spent 4 days up in New Hampshire with my family.  We hung out by the lake, lounged in the water, waterskiied, did some paddleboard yoga, and ate more delicious food than anyone actually needs to eat in a 4 day period.  Needless to say, it was awesome.  But of course the best part was the family time with my parents, grandparents, aunt and cousins.  I wish we all lived closer!



This past weekend, we took a trip up to Wisconsin to camp and catch a Brewers game.  It was meant to be a test-run for our camping gear, since we just got a whole bunch of new stuff to take on our big trip out West.  It was also a chance to check another baseball park off of our lists.  I've been to 3 new parks so far this summer and will be at one more (I hope) by the end of the week!  Despite the fact that traffic in both directions was pretty horrific, limiting our ability to actually do any hiking, we had a great time.  I'm excited for us to do the real thing next week.



Before we left, I had sent this recipe to the Monkey Scientist's mom.  I didn't really read it, or think about how much work went into making granitas.  I just thought it looked good.  I should have known better - by the time we got back she'd stressed over making it all day and bought these cute little serving bowls for it.  I was so excited!  She's the sweetest.



I tried to help out by making the coconut whipped cream, but it didn't work out great. The taste was spot on, but it never really stiffened up.  Not quite sure what I did wrong; maybe I overwhipped it in the electric mixer?  It didn't really matter though because these were so delicious that we all slurped them down pretty quickly.  When they started melting it almost turned into a soft coconut-watermelon ice cream.  What a refreshing and tasty summertime treat!

Next, we're off to the West Coast for our big summer trip. I'll be sure to tell you all about it when we get back!



Boozy Watermelon Granitas
from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients
4 cups fresh cubed watermelon
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut rum
1 (14-ounce) can of full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight

Instructions
1. In the blender or food processor, completely puree the watermelon. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a measuring cup and use a spoon to press every last bit of liquid out of the watermelon pulp.
2. Add the watermelon juice and sugar to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and once the liquid comes to a boil, turn off the heat.
3. Pour the juice into a 9x13-inch baking dish and whisk in the rum. Freeze for 4 hours.
4.  Use a fork and scrape the mixture into small icy bites. Freeze again and repeat the scraping one or two more times within the next two hours or so.
5.  When ready to serve, open the can of cold coconut milk (don't shake it first!) and remove all of the liquid. Scoop the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed with a whisk attachment until peaks form, about 2 minutes. If desired, you can sweeten your coconut whipped cream with a little sugar.
6. Serve the granitas by layering a spoonful of the whipped cream, the granitas and more whipped cream. You can garnish with a sprig of mint if you have any on hand.