Strawberry granita sundae with vanilla ice cream and candied pistachios

Combine half a cup granulated sugar and half a cup water in a saucepan.

Add two tablespoons corn syrup, which prevents crystallization and keeps the frozen mixture softer.

Set over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar; hull and coarsely chop 12 ounces of strawberries.

Add the berries and let them steep and poach in the syrup without ever reaching a simmer, until soft and the syrup has tinted red.

For the pistachios, sprinkle a very scant amount of granulated sugar across a skillet and melt it, add the nuts, stir to coat and let them toast and candy, sprinkling in more sugar as you go.

Off the heat, add a bunch more granulated sugar for a crunchy sparkly coating.

Add a quarter cup of elderflower liqueur and the juice of half a lemon to the berry syrup.

Buzz with a hand blender until frothy to break down the berries and thicken the mixture; small pieces of strawberry are fine.

Freeze, then scrape the surface with a fork into icy shards; the alcohol and corn syrup keep it soft.

Build the sundae with a few slices of strawberry in the bottom, vanilla ice cream, the granita and the candied pistachios.