Watermelon Sorbet

Well, this tastes refreshing and lovely. Which is some consolation that it takes a great deal of effort to scoop it out of the container. :o/ Yeah...I did it again...



I've been struggling with frozen treats freezing too solid. I believe my issue here was that I didn't let the mixture cool to room temp before bothering to process it in my ice cream maker. As a result, it took longer to freeze, and warmed up the bowl so it wasn't going to freeze any more, and was still probably too watery when I transferred it to the container to finish freezing! Wah! I know better!

Had the texture been perfect, the only other change I would make would be to substitute lemon or lime juice instead of the peel. I kept wondering what was rolling around on my tongue as I ate it and it turned out to be the peel. Was I supposed to strain it out? It doesn't really say so, but I would advise to do so, I'm not sure what it does anyway! I suppose it enhances the flavor somehow. I'll have to do more sorbet research to see if it's really necessary!

Watermelon Sorbet
Adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

4 cups pureed seedless watermelon
(Rachel says you'll need 5 pounds seedless watermelon that comes up to around 6 cups cut up. I have no idea if that's how much I used! but it's a good guide. Also, I don't believe seedless watermelon actually exists, even if it says so in the stores, don't stress over the seeds)
1/4 cup sugar
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Pinch salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup

1. Using a blender, puree the watermelon (seeds and all). You will need 4 cups watermelon puree.
2. Strain the puree to get out as many of the seeds as you can. Don't go crazy.
3. In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup watermelon puree, the sugar and lemon peel to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
4. Strain once more to remove the peel.
5. Season with the salt.
   
6. Pour in the remaining 3 cups watermelon puree
   
7. Whisk in the corn syrup until incorporated.
8. Transfer to a metal bowl and put in the fridge until it cools down
9. Process in an ice cream maker OR if you don't have an ice cream maker, use this method for freezing! (I used this on my most successful sorbet!)

Mango Sorbet

Well, I made some mango sorbet. And I'm not too sure how I feel about it!



It's yummy...refreshing, has a nice mango flavor. Texture is pretty good, not frozen solid. :o)

Except for me, I do not like biting into a slice of mango. The flesh is made up of all these fibers, it's a very fiberous fruit in texture...if that makes sense. I really don't like that!

So I knew that going in, but I went ahead and pureed up my mango and in the end, well, it still has these fibers in it...I'm wondering if I can strain it? On the plus side, it was SO easy to make, I'll certainly try it again, and let you know how it goes!

Mango Sorbet
From Razzle Dazzle Recipes

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
2 ripe mangoes, about 1/2 lb. each
Juice of 1 lime

1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat.
   
2. Whisk until the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup is clear.
   
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Cut the mangoes and remove as much pulp as you can
   Before you try this, I encourage you to check out this step by step guide to cutting a mango...I wish I had...
5. Juice your lime
   
6. Combine the cooled syrup, mango pulp and lime juice in a blender or food processor.
7. Blend until completely smooth
   
8. Cover and refrigerate until cold
9. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions
   OR
   If you don't have in ice cream maker, but you do have some time on your hands, you can try this method, which I've used successfully for sorbet!
10. Transfer to a freezer safe container and store in freezer!

Mexican Cocoa Ice Cream for Cinco de Mayo

I discovered a wonderful new shop, the Savory Spice Shop in Westfield, NJ. It's so much fun. The first time I went there I was overwhelmed and I walked out with only a few things, but I recently went back and bought a whole bunch of fun stuff!

Among my spoils was a bag of Mexican cocoa which I made Mexican cocoa ice cream in honor of Cinco de Mayo with!



I'm still learning how to make ice cream well. I have issues with my custard separating and that seems to make it freeze hard as a rock after processing. But this time I went very slow and I think it came out pretty good!



Mexican Cocoa Ice Cream
From Savory Spice Shop

Yields 1 quart
Note: If you don't have an ice cream maker you can use this method for processing!

3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp. Mexican cocoa
1/4 tsp. cinnamon extract
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar together.
   
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, slowly heat milk to boiling point, stirring occasionally.
3. Slowly pour egg mixture into milk and thoroughly mix together.
   
4. Turn heat to low and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and forms a thick film on the back of a wooden spoon. (Do not let it boil or the mixture will separate)
5. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.
   
6. When cool, transfer mixture to a bowl. Add cocoa and mix in thoroughly.
   
7. Mix in extracts and cream.
   
8. Refrigerate until cold, 1-2 hours.
   
9. Process the ice cream in an ice cream maker for about 25 min, or make sure you have a lot of time and use this method

Happy Cinco de Mayo!