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Dessert

Strawberry Granita

A frozen Italian dessert of sweetened strawberry purée, scraped or stirred while freezing into a coarse, icy texture.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Strawberry Granita

Time3 to 4 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Defrost the strawberries and mash lightly with a fork.

  2. Fold in sugar, lemon juice and water.

Freeze

  1. Pour into a mould and leave in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve

  1. Serve in sherbet glasses or dessert dishes with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

161Calories
2 gProtein
6 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Strawberry1 cup (152g)49
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Lemon + creamtop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,640 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Strawberries
Provide the main fruit flavour and moisture that freezes into the granita's icy texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice softer and more granular.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the strawberry flavour.
Whipping cream
Adds richness and a soft, creamy contrast to the icy granita.

The step that matters

Stirring occasionally while freezing. As the mixture freezes, water forms ice crystals. Stirring breaks up large crystals as they form, giving the fine, granular texture that defines a granita. Letting it freeze undisturbed produces a hard, icy block instead.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Raspberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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