Purple Cow for Grown-ups

My supper club met last night for the first time in a while. We've been a bit off schedule since a few babies joined us this year.

We have been meeting for about six years, so we have a pretty good routine. The hostess makes the main dish and supplies the wine. The rest of us fill in with sides and dessert depending on who is hosting.

Last night we were at Kathy's, so I was on dessert duty. She made a fabulous roast chicken for the main course; it came with roasted onions and tomatoes. Amy made some tasty mac and cheese with shallots and bacon. Anne made some Provencal Summer Vegetables that I definitely plan to make myself. It was a lovely plate, and everything was so tasty!

My dessert was Raspberry Beer Floats with Raspberry Granita from Bon Appetit. When I was little, my mom always made Coke floats for our slumber parties, and sometimes we made a Purple Cow: a Coke float with grape soda. I decided these were Purple Cows for grown-ups. A little tangier than I expected at first, but really refreshing. As the recipe noted, it would be perfect for an outdoor party on a warm night.

1 750 ml bottle chilled Belgian raspberry beer (framboise lambic)
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
Premium vanilla ice cream

Mix 1 cup beer and 1 tablespoon sugar in glass pie dish; stir to dissolve. Freeze until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Boil 1 cup beer with 2 tablespoons sugar in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Chill syrup until cold. Chill remaining beer.

Using fork, scrape granita into flakes. Spoon ice cream into 4 small glasses; drizzle syrup over. Top with granita; pour more beer down the inside of each glass.