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Italian Ice

I made this with my friend’s daughter for a school fund-raiser and it was a huge hit. She helped me crush the ice with a rolling pin, then scooped it up and drizzled on the syrup. We used raspberry because we liked the color, but you can make any flavor you prefer. Serve these with some of the Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes (page 221) and squares of the Chocolate Chip Pound Cake (page 224) and you have a wonderful dessert party for kids or the makings of a great bake sale.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

3 cups raspberry syrup, such as Torani
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
5 pounds ice (about 6 ice trays)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mint in a small pitcher. Refrigerate until cold.

    Step 2

    Working in batches, place the ice in a heavy resealable plastic bag and hit it with a mallet or rolling pin to coarsely crush the ice. Place 2 to 3 cups of crushed ice at a time in a food processor and run the machine until the ice is finely chopped. (You can store the shaved ice in a large resealable plastic bag in the freezer for up to 1 day.)

    Step 3

    Place 1 1/2 cups of shaved ice in each serving dish. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of the syrup mixture over each scoop of ice and serve immediately.

Reprinted with permission from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2008 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.
TagsFrozen DessertDessertItalianEuropeanMintHerbs & SpicesLemonCitrusFruitDairy FreeGluten FreeNut FreeEasyFood ProcessorCookbooks
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