Plum Granita with Summer Fruit

This fruit ice is perfect for a hot summer night when local fruit is in season! You can garnish it with with slices of peach, nectarine and plum or any other farmers’ market fruit.Makes 4 servings.

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise*
1 1/2 pounds plums(about 7 large), pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 peach, pitted, thinly sliced
1 nectarine, pitted, thinly sliced
1 plum, pitted, thinly sliced

Combine water, sugar, allspice and cinnamon in heavy small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool syrup completely.

Puree 1 1/2 pounds plums in processor. Press enough puree through sieve to measure 1 1/2 cups. Strain syrup into puree and blend well. Transfer mixture to 9×5x3-inch glass loaf dish. Freeze plum mixture until flaky crystals form, stirring every 30 minutes, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; keep frozen.)

Spoon granita into 4 glass goblets. Top with peach, nectarine and plum slices and serve immediately.

*You can substitute 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, but add it to the syrup after it has cooled.

Adapted from Bon Appétit | August 1997