Italian ice

Italian ice

Italian ice in a paper cup
Alternative names	Water ice
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Water, fruit (concentrate, juice or purée)

Today's Italian ice (also known as water ice in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley) is a sweetened frozen dessert made with fruit (often from concentrates, juices or purées) or other natural or artificial food flavorings, similar to sorbet. Water ice is not shaved ice that is flavored; rather, it is made by the same process by which ice cream is made: freezing the ingredients while mixing them. Italian ice is similar to sorbet, but differs from American-style sherbet in that it does not contain dairy or egg ingredients, though it may contain egg white. Common flavors include blue raspberry, cherry, lemon, mango, orange, strawberry, and watermelon, with numerous other flavors available. It is believed to be derived from the Sicilian granita, a related dessert which may have been brought by immigrants to the United States. Authentic water ice contains no pieces of fruit: smooth tiny grains of flavored ice, lemon being the quintessential flavor.