Watermelon Granita With Sweet Lemon Cream - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Granita:
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 leaves fresh mint
1 lime, juiced
1 pinch kosher salt
10 cups cubed seeded watermelon
Lemon Cream:
8 ounces labneh (thick Middle Eastern-style yogurt)
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons water, or as needed

Preparation

Combine water, sugar, vanilla extract, and fresh mint in a heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat; mix in lime juice and salt.
Place watermelon in batches in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve into a large bowl, using a spoon to press out as much juice as possible; stir in sugar mixture.
Pour watermelon mixture into a 10x14-inch glass pan. Freeze, scraping the surface every 30 minutes with a fork until ice crystals form throughout, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Mix labneh, honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a small bowl. Whisk in water 1 teaspoon at a time until consistency is light and creamy. Top granita with cream.