When watermelons make their appearance you know summer has arrived in Cape Town and making a Frozen Watermelon Margarita seems to be a good enough way to welcome the long, warm and festive days ahead.

I had quite a bit of watermelon left from a recent workshop I presented and as I did not want it to spoil I chopped it in to big chunks to freeze, thinking I would make a sorbet or granita out of it. I am tempted to make a Watermelon and Aperol granita and serve it with a splash or two of bubbly. I am convinced it will be so good. But I have not gotten that far yet and decided to make this summery margarita. And in saying that I do think this Frozen Watermelon Margarita mix make a delicious granita or sorbet.

This is one of those recipes where you have to taste as go. I have given quantities that worked for me but if you have a super sweet watermelon you might need more lime juice or if it has been one of those days, you might need a lot more tequila. Triple sec is a traditional ingredient in margaritas but I left it out for this recipe and I thought the watermelon would probably overpower it but if you have some, add to taste. I used a red wine salt for the rim of the glass just to be a bit different and looking at the images now I think a black salt would be quite cool.

The hardest part of the recipe is removing the pips before freezing the watermelon. After that you just bung everything in a food processor and mix until you have the right consistency and flavour. You could also use chilled chunks of watermelon in stead of frozen. If so, add half the soda water to start off with. Enjoy!

I am thrilled that the Recipe Index has been given a visual makeover. Instead of just a recipe listing, every recipe now shows the image of the dish, making it much easier to search and find a recipe to prepare.

Frozen Watermelon Margarita

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Ingredients

Makes about 1 liter
600 g watermelon chunks pips removed and frozen
1 cup soda water
2 tbsp caster sugar optional if the watermelon is not very sweet
juice of two limes
90 ml tequila
a lime wedge and some salt for the rim of the glass

Instructions

Rub the rim of a glass with a lime wedge and dip into salt until the edge of the glass is covered with salt and set aside
Place the watermelon chunks in a food processor
Blitz until the pieces are mostly broken up
Add the water, sugar (if used), lime juice and tequila and blitz until smooth
Taste and add more sugar, lime juice or tequila as desired
Add more soda water if the you want a thinner mixture
Pour the mix into the glasses and serve with some lime wedges on the side