Friday, May 02, 2008

Kiwi Vanilla Granita

apelsin och kiwigranita

Do you happen to have some leftover kiwi fruits? I did - and it's something that happens from time to time. The store will have a good deal on a basket of fruit, I'll buy it, eat three or four and.. then they'll just grow old. So - why not make it into a useful dessert? I made this little granita to serve after a heavy meal, and added some sliced blood oranges that had been soaking in a vanilla simple syrup for a few hours. (Just make a simple sugar syrup and add a few vanilla beans to infuse. It'll keep in the fridge for a long time if you don't use it all at once.)

A sad thing though: when I ate this, my mouth started to tingle. In a bad, getting-an-allergic-reaction way. And again when I was served a great drink with kiwi a while ago. So, I'm staying away from kiwis for a while - I haven't noticed anything when I've ate them straight up, but they're usually a little less ripe by then and possibly it's just ripe kiwis that I can't eat. Oh, I don't know - but I'm not taking any risks with it, either.

Kiwi Vanilla Granita

400 g kiwi fruits(7-8)
65 g homemade vanilla sugar
130 ml water

Peel the kiwi fruits and cut them into pieces. Place with sugar and water in a food processor and mix until smooth. Pour into a shallow pan and place in the freezer. After about an hour, scrape down the icy crystals that will have formed on the sides of the pan, and stir it. Repeat this every half hour or so until it's all frozen.

When serving, scrape it with a fork to form loose crystals.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kiwi- och vaniljgranita

13 comments:

Tiggy said...

Ser gott ut! :-) Jag har funnit att när jag mixar kiwi så reagerar jag på det. Jag tror det kan vara de krossade kärnorna för jag reagerar inte annars när jag bara äter dem som dem är.

Anne said...

Ah, det var ju himla intressant. Kanske är det så för mig med!

Dagmar said...

Great shot. Sorry to hear about the tingling as it's a nice fruit.

Anonymous said...

if you suspect that you have an allergy you should of course be careful but it might be simply that there were some crushed kiwi seeds in your granita or drink. they have a very peppery taste and whenever i make i smoothie with kiwi fruit in my blender my mouth tingles like hell - not for everyone but i actually enjoy the peppery taste.

Feline Flodin said...

Men du, heter det inte granité på svenska?

Feline Flodin said...

För övrigt kliar det i halsen på mig med när jag har mixat kiwi. Verkar vara ett nästintill universellt problem..?!

Anonymous said...

Soft kiwi fruits can also be used to marinade tough pieces of beef.

From: http://www.kiwicovelodge.com/kiwi_vineyard/kiwi_recipes.htm
BASIC KIWI MARINADE
A natural enzyme in kiwi fruit helps tenderize tougher cuts of meat like round or blade steak.
Add marinade to cubed meat at least two hours and not more than six hours.
1 cup chopped kiwi
2 tbsp each, soy sauce & tomato sauce (ketchup)
2 cloves minced garlic
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

You'll find recipes for muffins, chutney, jam, etc.

Katie said...

The same thing happens to me when I try and eat kiwi. My tongue swells slightly and goes all sore and prickly.

Daniel Roos said...

Vad kul med granite du är verkligen duktig Anne. Ha det så bra mvh Daniel

Anne said...

Nice to hear about others with the same problem - it might just be the crushed kiwi!

Pene, nice, thanks!

Daniel, tack snälla du :)

Jeanne said...

Mmm, granita! You are right - perfect after a heavy meal, and I love those blood oranges peeping out. Weird about the tingling...

Steamy Vicks said...

The mouth irritation is caused by raphide crystals of oxalate - they're sharp, needle-like crystals about 100 microns long- long enough to cause minor mouth bleeding if enough of them are eaten!

They're found in pineapple (just under the skin), taro root (can be intensely irritating) and kiwi. This is especially prevalent in unripe, dehydrated, mashed, liquidised or pureed kiwi.

If you eat them when ripe and whole or sliced, you won't suffer from the same effects.

If you Google "calcium oxalate crystals and kiwi" you'll find quite a bit about this phenomenon :)

xbox 360 casque said...

Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe. I wanted to try something new for this Christmas to treat my family and friends with. This Kiwi Vanilla Granita will be a real treat!