Melon granita with port wine
Instructions:
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of the melon and personal preference. (Keep in mind that freezing subdues sweetness, so make the base a little sweeter than you want the finished granita to be.) Cool the sugar syrup to room temperature.
- Put the melon in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the sugar syrup, lemon juice, corn syrup, and salt. Process until smooth. Pour the puree into a shallow container and freeze until the edges are slushy, about 30 minutes. Stir with a fork every 30 minutes, until the base has frozen into a mass of fluffy ice shards, about 11⁄2 hours total.
- When ready to serve, you can control the size of the ice crystals. For big snowcone crystals, rake up the frozen base with a fork. For smooth crystals that are more like sorbet, quickly buzz the frozen base in a food processor. Serve at once, drizzled with a little port, about 2 teaspoons per serving.