Strawberry Granita Dessert With Rose Water

From DeliciousLiving.com. I love to sprinkle rosewater on sliced strawberries and thought it would taste good in this recipe, too. As I was preparing to post this recipe, the idea occurred to me how good blackberries would be as a substitute for the strawberries. Just a thought and a suggestion... Molto facile!

• Ready In: 16 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2  lbs  slightly overripe strawberries, chopped
• 1  cup powdered sugar, sifted (see Homemade Powdered Sugar)
• 1  lemon, juice of
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons rose water (my addition)
• 8  teaspoons heavy cream

• Garnish

•  lemon verbena leaves (my addition) or   fresh variegated mint leaf (my addition)

Directions

1. Gently wash and hull strawberries, then place in a food processor.
2. Process until pureed. It may be necessary to add a small amount of water to help blend the strawberries.
3. Working in batches, press purée through a fine sieve to extract seeds (discard seeds). Note: I admit: I'm lazy and skip this step. I leave it for you to decide whether to remove the seeds or not.
4. Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice and rose water into pureed strawberries. It should seem a little too sweet and a little too sharp; both tastes will be muted slightly when frozen.
5. Pour the strawberry purée into a bowl or large tub; for best results, the mixture should be no deeper than about 1 inch.
6. Freeze until solid, at least 1 hour.
7. Remove from freezer 5 minutes before serving.
8. Using a sturdy scoop or spoon, mound granita into *goblets and cap each with a trickle of cream. The cream will solidify, semifrozen, like a snowcap on a pink mountain.
9. *I used fancy dessert glasses which were placed in the freezer and chilled to get that "frosted" effect.
10. Garnish with lemon verbena or mint leaves.
11. Very important: serve immediately.