Raspberry-Mint-Tea Slushie

Hot and muggy, isn't it!? Slushies to the rescue. I put in the lower quantity of honey, and the result was tart, astringent, and very refreshing. I wouldn't have complained about a bit more sweetness, though, and you should sweeten it to your taste.

You will need a good sturdy blender to crush the ice. Don't over-load the poor beast, and if you must, transfer the ground ice to a bowl and keep it in the freezer as you crush more, then add it back in once the extract goes in.

4 to 6 servings
15 minutes to make extract
10 minutes to make slushies

2 cups water
1 to 3 tablespoons honey, to taste
2 cups raspberries
1 orange pekoe tea-bag
1/3 cup washed mint leaves, stripped from the stems
OR 1 teaspoon orange pekoe tea, in a tea-ball
about 3 trays of ice cubes
mint sprigs to garnish

Put the water, honey, and raspberries in a pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer until all the raspberries have broken down, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the tea-bag and the mint leaves. Cover and let steep for 4 minutes, then strain through a sieve, pressing to extract all the liquid and discarding the solids. You can keep this extract in the fridge until ready to proceed. Don't forget to check that your ice-cube trays are full!

To make the slushies, put 1/3 to 1/2 of an ice-cube tray worth of ice-cubes into a sturdy blender and run until it is fairly fine crushed ice. Add 1/2 the extract and blend again. Shake or stir the extract before adding it. Once smooth, add more ice cubes and process until you have the texture and strength that you would like. I found 1 1/2 smallish ice-cube trays worth of ice made 2 reasonably large slushies.

Garnish the slushies with a sprig of mint and serve with a straw.





Last year at this time I made Summer Fish Cakes.

Posted in: Ontario Food