Early in July, I brushed the dust off of what’s quickly become my favorite cookbook. What can I say – dedicating the blog to travel month has got me in the mood to visit my favorite place in the world – Italy! If I can’t make it to Italy this year, I’m going to keep trying my hand at its food.

Since I went savory with my first dish {and am feeling mighty inspired by last week’s Tasty Tuesday recipe!}, I took on a yummy summer dessert sure to sweeten your day, in only three easy steps!

Granita di Caffe (Coffee Granita)

Serves 6.

Ingredients

3 cups coffee (extra strong)
2/3 cups sugar
whipped cream for topping

Instructions

Step 1: Heat the sugar with 2 cups water in a pan over low heat until dissolved. Add the coffee, stir and set aside until completely cooled.

Step 2: Put into bowl or container and place in freezer for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes to give it a granular texture. {Editor’s note: it took more like 3 hours and that’s with cutting the recipe in half. So allow yourself a good amount of time or even prepare this dessert the night before you plan to serve it}

Step 3: Serve with whipped cream and prepare to have seconds!

This might be the easiest dessert I have ever made. You’re basically just freezing coffee, but come out looking like you just tackled something much more complicated. This is a genius dessert on a hot day! So, ditch the frappucino run on Saturday afternoon and make this instead. We love the idea of serving the granita in a martini glass with a pretty straw for a special after-dinner treat!

Sadly, today is the last Tuesday of this month, which means our Cooking Out of Your Comfort Zone series is ending. We had so much fun in the kitchen and would love to hear your feedback. Is this something you’d like to see more of on Apartment 34? We certainly had fun with it and would love to bring even more deliciousness to you!!

original photography for apartment 34 by Simone Anne // styling and art direction by erin hiemstra