Café carajillo granita

Serves 4-6

I've recently been to the Costa Brava area of Spain – and while I was finishing off dinner with this rather addictive coffee spiked with local brandy or anís liqueur, I came up with the idea that it would make a great after-dinner granita or even a dessert.

A lot of people have an espresso machine in their kitchens these days; or at least one of those Italian stove-top numbers – if not, you could just use strong filter coffee.

20 measures of espresso or strong black coffee (approx 700ml)
100g caster sugar
4 good measures of Pernod or Ricard or Spanish anís, such as patxaran
Chocolate-covered coffee beans to serve (optional)

Put the sugar in a bowl. Make espresso in the usual way and tip in to the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add your Pernod, Ricard or anís and mix well. Pour the mixture in to a shallow tray and place in the freezer. Stir the mixture every hour or so; this disturbs the setting process so it forms a kind of slushy sorbet.

Serve in a martini glass or similar and scatter over a few of the chocolate-covered coffee beans.