Leche Merengada Granita —Granizado de Leche Merengada
It has been raining for a few days, the temperatures have dropped, and I feel under the weather, so what better time to post a recipe for ice cream than now, ha ha! When I was preparing this recipe for the blog, a few days ago, the temperatures were in the 90’s Fahrenheit, 30’s Celsius. The landscape workers that were trimming our bushes and pulling out all my lavender (sniff) had to leave early because the heat was unbearable. I was happily making my husband’s favorite ice cream, in granita form, leche merengada (loosely translated to whipped cinnamon milk granita), and we still managed to enjoy it during those high temperatures.
Today, as I’m writing this, I’m sipping tea (my son Matthew’s present, from my favorite tea and coffee shop in West Lafayette), and the last thing I feel like doing is drinking anything cold. Luckily, this is not over, summer is not gone, not even on the calendar, and the temperatures are going to climb higher this week (fingers crossed!). And then I’ll go back to ice cream and granita.
Like many other recipes, I don’t know why I haven’t posted this one before. The moment we set foot in Spain, this is the only ice cream my husband will eat. Forget all the other amazing flavors of ice cream you can find in Spain, flavors that you cannot find in our part of the world in Indiana, like turrón, or hazelnut, or almond, or walnut. The day my husband discovered leche merengada ice cream, every other flavor faded. So finally, I made it for him, and it didn’t last very long. I made it in granita form, but this whipped cinnamon milk can be had in liquid form as well, and it’s one of the most refreshing drinks of the summer, and one of Spanish ice cream staple flavors.
I’m sharing with you a few photos of our vacation in Alcocebre, a beach town on the Mediterranean coast in the province of Castellón, the northernmost province in the Comunidad Valenciana, the Valencian Comunity. There, my husband will allow himself the license of having ice cream every day. We all do! One of our summer traditions, either if we have dinner at home or at a restaurant or tapas bar, is to follow dinner by a trip to our favorite ice cream store in Alcocebre, La Jijonenca (have I mentioned that many ice cream stores in Spain are called La Jijonenca? Click here to see why).
La Jijonenca is located right on the sea promenade, which becomes the most lively at night and into the early morning. That’s the way at most Spanish beach towns in the summer! During the day, life at the beach (and in our case, hikes up the mountain to Santa Lucía church or long walks along the sea in Sierra de Irta); at night, life in town and on the sea promenade. Terraces, cafés, craft markets, ice cream stores, souvenir shops, street performers, live music…, to serve the many families that stroll leisurely, work and stress and worries forgotten for a few days.
Oh, how I miss summer!
LECHE MERENGADA GRANITA
Granizado de Leche Merengada
Ingredients:
4 cups milk (I prefer to use whole milk for this recipe)
2 sticks cinnamon
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Peel of 1 lemon (wide strips, yellow part only)
3 egg whites
1 Tbs icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Place the milk, cinnamon sticks, and lemon peel in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the granulated sugar, and stir to dissolve. Let it cool to room temperature and place in the fridge.
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Slowly add the icing sugar while continuing to beat, until soft peaks form.
Remove the cinnamon sticks and lemon peel from the milk and discard. Place the cinnamon-lemon milk in a larger bowl and fold in the whipped egg whites until fully incorporated. If using an ice cream maker, follow the manufacturer’s instructions until the milk acquires a snow-like appearance. Distribute in cups and dust with ground cinnamon (if not using immediately, place in a freezer-resistant container and freeze).
If you’re not using a ice cream maker, place the cinnamon-lemon milk in a freezer-resistant tub and freeze for 2 hours. Remove from the freezer, stir, and place back in the freezer. Stir again after 2 hours and place back in the freezer.
Serve with a dusting of cinnamon.
Note: leche merengada is also delicious ice cold, no freezing involved
