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!

and in the morning, it was sorbet!

I was ssoooo excited when I saw how easy this recipe for triple berry sorbet was! You don't need an ice cream maker or anything! I wanted to try it right away and decided to make it for a labor day afternoon bbq.


My biggest issue was straining the damn seeds out of the puree. You need just the right size colander to keep the seeds out but actually let the juice through, it was more difficult than I thought and I almost gave up but Dave was there for me!

So I poured it into my metal mixing bowl and stuck it in the fridge and waited. Then I transferred it to the freezer. The took it out and stirred every 30 min from about 10 at night until 1 in the morning and the edges had jjjuuussttt started to freeze. So I went to bed!

I woke up around 9 am the next morning, and over night my sorbet had turned into sorbet!


It was scoopable and everything, not one big frozen block, I was ssssooooo excited and it tasted delicious!

Right before everyone came over I made whipped cream for topping from heavy whipping cream I had intended to use for marshmallow frosting for my smore cupcakes. It actually went over really well, even my two friends who are not really berry eaters had some and enjoyed it. :oD

I wish I had tried this sooner and had more of summer time to make all sorts of fun sorbets with. But now it's on to fall and new adventures!