Ice cream's two frozen cousins, granite and sorbet ices are popular. Easy to make, low in calories, and with a wide variety of flavors, no wonder they are so. Granites and sorbets are characteristically light and refreshing, but intensely flavored, and sometimes tart and sweet at the same time as in the lemon granite. Both types of ices are versatile and delicious in a variety of flavors so you can serve them as a first course, an accompaniment to a fruit or leafy salad, as a dish between courses or of course, as dessert. 

Whether a granite or sorbet, all the recipes start with a liquid base. This base is first partially frozen in an ice cream machine and then frozen firm in an ordinary freezer.

The French have been eating frozen desserts since the eighteenth century, and they never miss an opportunity to slurp some up. Then, sorbets were only made of fruit juices or wines. Often these frozen preparations were also mixed with beaten egg whites to make them smoother and lighter. Today’s sorbets made with fruit purées or herbal infusions would be termed glaces by Escoffier. Espoused by nineteenth-century French food icon Auguste Escoffier.

Whether you say it in French, granite (pronounced grah-nee-tay), or in Italian, granita (pronounced grah-nee-tah), granite and granita are the same: a grainy frozen mixture of sugar, water and a flavored liquid, such as coffee, lemon juice or even melted chocolate. 

On the other hand, sorbet (French for sherbet), is a smooth, creamy frozen delicacy consisting of sugar, water, and most often, a fruit puree or fruit juice. Sorbets are smooth frozen ices made without milk or other dairy products. The beautiful, silky texture of a sorbet is at its best when freshly made and still soft. It should never be rock hard and should always be free of ice crystals.

The main differences in these two ices (which contain basically the same ingredients) lies in the freezing method, the amount of sugar you use in proportion to the liquid in the recipe, and the texture in the finished product. 

Sorbet, prepared with a relatively high proportion of sugar to liquid, and frozen in a conventional, beater-type ice cream maker, has a creamy, smooth almost ice cream-like consistency. Using fruit purées is common for modern sorbets. Infusions have also become popular in France as a source of flavor for sorbets. 

Granite has less sugar to liquid, is frozen in a large freezer-safe pan in the freezer section of your refrigerator and is stirred with a rubber spatula or raked with the tines of a fork about every 30 minutes to yield large, coarse ice crystals.

Incidentally, "sherbet" is technically an ice as well, containing sugar, water and fruit puree or fruit juice, but in this country we most often associate sherbet with the commercial milk sherbet sold in supermarkets. It's a fruit-flavored icy mixture that contains between 1 and 2 per cent milk fat. A milk sherbet is not as light or full of fruit as a granite or sorbet.

Both ices begin with a sugar syrup which are easy to make ahead and store perfectly in a covered container for days in the refrigerator. You can prepare the fruit ahead too, and store it in the refrigerator at least a day before using. Just stir the two mixtures to blend thoroughly before pouring into the container to freeze.

For best flavor and consistency, serve the lemon and coffee granites the same day you make them. However, berry sorbets sorbet tastes best when given some time in the freezer for its flavor and texture to mellow -- at least a few hours after making it. If sorbet is to be held frozen for longer than 2 hours, move from freezer to refrigerator for about half an hour before serving. If you resist temptation and have leftover sorbet, store in the freezer for up to 5 days. When ready to serve, remove it from the freezer, break into chunks and beat in a food processor until smooth and soft.