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Recipe: clara con limón granizado

I came across this cocktail in Pals, in Catalonia, in 30 degree heat, a few weeks back — I saw it on the menu at the cafe in the square of the old town, and had to give it a go. It’s incredible. Basically, it’s lager mixed with a lemon granita — like a beer slushy. Nothing is better at thirst quenching on a hot day, and best of all it’s quite low in alcohol so no worries about lorrying into it during the daytime :)

This year at Groovefest, our yearly get together/mini-festival, I got to serve up a few, with great results — they were quite popular. So here’s the recipe!

First off, a day or two in advance, make a batch of lemon granita. I based mine on this recipe which I’ll copy here just in case the original goes away:

Lemon Granita

Serves: about 8

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 lemons
  • 1L water
  • 150g of sugar

Method:

  • Zest the lemons and set the zest aside. Juice the lemons until you have 150ml juice (you may not need all of them).

  • Add the water and sugar to a large pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

  • Add the lemon juice and zest, remove from the heat and cover. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.

  • Strain the mixture into 2 containers that will fit in your freezer and leave to cool to room temperature.

  • Freeze until the mixture is partially frozen, which should take several hours. (I just left them overnight)

  • Remove the granita from the freezer and leave at room temperature until you can break it into chunks with a large spoon or fork.

  • Either transfer to a blender or food processor and blitz, or break it up with a fork. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth and snowy — a slushy texture is just right for this drink.

  • Store in the freezer. Take out 30 minutes before serving and break it up again with a fork.

Clara Con Limón Granizado

To serve: half-fill a half-pint glass with the lemon granita. Pour the beer on top to fill the glass. Stir once or twice to mix. Enjoy!

PS: I think — not sure as my Catalan is pretty terrible — it may be a clara granitzada in Catalonia…