A fresh, sweet melon is the only kind of melon that transforms into a fine sorbet...
Cantaloupe Sorbet
from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book
1 small ripe cantaloupe
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Remove the rind and seeds from the melon. Cut the flesh into 1/2-inch cubes. You should have about 2 heaping cups of fruit. Place the cut-up melon in a blender with the orange-juice, sugar, and salt. Blend until the melon is pureed and the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
Stir the chilled mixture and then freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.
Notes: At the recommendation of several other recipes, I also added a 1/2 tsp of lime to the mix. I have another recipe with the method which involves making and cooling syrup instead of just blending ingredients and I'd like to give that a try sometime in the future. This had a crisp taste which was quite a lovely way to clear the palate at the end of a food-filled evening.
Posted by Jennifer at April 24, 2005 11:59 AMDo you have any recipes or ideas for spicy ice cream? I've been looking and can't find anything that looks very appealing.
Posted by: Nick at April 25, 2005 5:12 PMNick -- In the same book I took this recipe from there's a recipe for avocado icecream and it has a jalapeno in the mix. Is that the sort of thing you mean?
Posted by: Jennifer at April 25, 2005 6:25 PMNick -- I also turned up the following recipe, though I haven't made it so I don't know how well it works out....
Habanero Ice Cream
2 pints half and half
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps. sugar
2 tbsps. butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/2 cups blanched sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped Habanero chiles -- (1/4 to 1/2)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tsps. almond extract
1 tbsp. oil
Lightly toast nuts in a skillet or oven and set aside. In a small skillet, heat the oil and sautee chopped chiles and set aside. In a double boiler, heat the half and half adding 3/4 cup of sugar and stirring until sugar is dissolved. Don't let the mixture boil. Add egg yolks and continue stirring until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or tines of a whisk. Add extracts, stir until blended then remove from heat.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the remaining sugar, stirring until sugar begins to bubble. Add the nuts and chiles and stir until the nuts and chiles are well coated. Remove from heat and let cool. Combine the nuts and chiles with the half and half mixture, stir and let cool in fridge. After the mixture is cool, get out your ice cream freezer, dump the mixture in and proceed according to the directions for your unit.
Posted by: Jennifer at April 25, 2005 6:36 PMLooks good, I'll have to procure an ice cream maker to try it out. Thank's for the recipe, I'll try it out and send you the post.
Posted by: Nick at April 25, 2005 6:53 PMI think the added lime juice kept this sorbet (the cantaloupe one) from being overly sweet, but it didn't overwhelm the fresh cantaloupe. This'd definitely be a good one for a hot summer day.
I made a strawberry sorbet the other day that required making a sugar syrup. The recipe that I used stated that vodka was the secret to a good sorbet; it keeps it from over-hardening. A bit of lemon juice was also involved.
I have been meaning to try a melon sorbet, I may give this one a try.
Posted by: Christina at June 4, 2005 3:33 PMI tried this sorbet recipe last week. It came out pretty good, but I found it a bit too sweet for my taste. Did add the lime juice in there though. would make again but will scale down the sugar content a bit. It was nice and light.
Posted by: Jennifer K at August 13, 2005 11:35 PM