Name: Philadelphia-Style Cherry Water Ice
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Ingredients: 1¼ pounds whole sweet cherries , pitted (about 3 cups); 1 cup water; ½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar; ¼ cup lemon juice; 1/8 teaspoon table salt

Why This Recipe Works

Water ice, a classic Philadelphia summertime treat, is a frozen fruit-based dessert with a texture that’s softer and slushier than granita but more crystallized and granular than sorbet. To get this texture, we carefully tinkered with the sugar-to-water ratio: Too much sugar and the texture was too creamy; too much water caused the mixture to freeze solid. Ice cream machines mimic the industrial machines that water ice shops in the Philadelphia area use, quickly freezing the mixture while scraping the sides of the canister to yield uniform ice crystals.

Before You Begin

You can substitute 1 pound (about 3 cups) of frozen pitted sweet cherries, thawed, plus any juices they release, for the fresh cherries. If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours before churning the water ice. For a self-refrigerating machine, pre-chill the canister by running the machine for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring in the blended fruit mixture.

Instructions

Place 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan in freezer. Process all ingredients in food processor until very smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Strain cherry mixture through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl or liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as  possible; discard solids.

Transfer cherry mixture to ice cream maker. Churn until mixture has consistency of grainy soft serve, 15 to 25 minutes.

Transfer water ice to chilled loaf pan. Cover and freeze for at least  1 hour or up to 1 month. Serve.  (If water ice is too firm to scoop, let sit at room temperature for  5 to 10 minutes before serving.)