I have a beef with store-bought ice pops. Why all the added sugar, artificial sweeteners, flavors, and colors? The fundamental ingredient in ice pops should be fruit and juice, ingredients that are naturally colorful, sweet, and tasty. Does it need to look neon green? Or taste like a gummy worm?
Instead, I often make my own pops. And today, I step up my frozen treat game one teeny tiny notch by making Concord Grape Granita. The recipe calls for just one ingredient — 100 percent grape juice made with Concord grapes — and no fancy equipment.
- No snow cone machine required.
- No pop molds needed.
- No added sugar, artificial flavor, or purple food dye necessary.
- And just two minutes of your time. Tops.
That’s less time than it will take to find your keys to get to the market to buy those ice pops.
More importantly, is the flavor you get with that one weensy ingredient. For me, it’s like childhood in a cup. Juice made with Concord grapes was a fridge staple when I was a kid. In the summer my mom would alternate filling a cooler with that or lemonade and haul it to the beach where we’d spend the day.
And here’s the killer upside about the juice: it’s made with Concord grapes, which are thought to have all manner of healthful benefits. My kids are crazy about them, gobbling them down during the brief stint they show up in markets each fall. Blink and you’ll miss them.
Concord grapes are distinct from other grapes, including many table grapes, because they have a thick, dark purple skin and crunchy seeds. They tend to have more polyphenols (powerful antioxidants) than grapes without seeds because these healthy plant nutrients are present in the seeds. The vibrant purple hue of the juice comes largely from the dark skins of the grapes, another concentrated source of polyphenols, which have health-promoting benefits, including benefits to heart health.
And so, I encourage you to skip the boxed pops and get your granita on. Better and better for you than a neon green gummy worm pop any old day.
One-Ingredient Grape Granita
Ingredients
- 2 cups 100 % grape juice made with Concord grapes
Instructions
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Pour grape juice into an 8x8-inch pan. Set in a level spot in the freezer.
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After about 1 1/2 hours, it should be partially frozen and somewhat solid around the edges. Pull it from the freezer. Use a fork to chop it up around the edges and run it through the center to break up the frozen sections into small ice crystals. Put it back in the freezer.
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After another 1.5 hours, it should be fully frozen. Remove it again and use the fork to break it completely into little ice crystals.
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Serve immediately or transfer to a covered container and store until ready to eat. You may need to break it up again with a fork when you pull it out to serve.
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Scoop into little bowls or cups and serve with small spoons.
