Chocolate Coconut and Almond Sorbet

Spring-cleaning got my ice cream maker back! I’ve been diligently winnowing the contents of the refrigerator and freezer down to the point where we can (1) see everything; (2) gain space.  The first thing to go back in was the bowl of our ice cream maker so that I can go back to making sorbet every other week or so. This satisfies my husband’s addiction without breaking the bank at the local parlor. 

This is a very rich sorbet, made with a combination of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate in a coconut milk bath. I added shredded coconut and chopped almonds, both toasted until light brown. This was so decadent that I could have convinced you that it contained heavy cream to the hilt.  I did use full fat coconut milk, whereas I normally use “lite.”  I also used very good quality chocolate. Even before I froze this, it was pudding-like in consistency.

Chocolate Coconut and Almond Sorbet

4 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate

2 oz good-quality bittersweet chocolate

¼ c superfine sugar

2 c canned coconut milk (1½ cans)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 c unsweetened or sweetened shredded coconut

2 tbsp whole almonds

Slowly meIt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or metal bowl) set over a pot of simmering water. Add the sugar and coconut milk, cooking lightly, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract. Set aside to cool and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions and store in the freezer in airtight containers.

When ready to serve, lightly toast the coconut in a dry pan on top of the stove or in a 325-degree oven just until lightly browned. Set aside to cool. Fold all but a tablespoonful or so into the sorbet, reserving the rest.

Toast the whole almonds in the same way, set them aside to cool and chop them coarsely. Combine the almonds with the reserved coconut and sprinkle over the sorbet.

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Dark Days 12, Part 2, Valentine’s Day Challenge: Lemon Verbena Ice Cream, Cranberry Sorbet and Maple Candied Cranberries

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I pull out the stops to make an all-local delectable fancy dessert, much to my surprise

Happy Valentine’s Day! Getting ready to satisfy sweet expectations, I succumbed to the Dark Days Challenge to create a second all-local V-day dessert. The first one, a pumpkin flan, was totally in bounds for my challenge but did include a few non-local spices. This time, everything was sustainable, organic (as much as cranberries can be), local and ethical. I formed the ice cream and sorbet using cookie cutters so that my red and white presentation was perfectly themed. And oh so schmaltzy. All I needed was a rose between my teeth. But at this time of year, for this challenge, it would have to have been dried. Hmm. The photos don’t do this justice. The sorbets were the same exact colors as my antique plate from Holland . 

My husband’s first remark about the ice cream was to say that I cheated by using lemon juice. Not so, as he should know by now given the volume of lemon verbena tea that I consume. I infused milk with dried organic lemon verbena from our CSA and combined it with local honey, eggs and cream to make the base for a delicious ice cream. I had made this with fresh lemon verbena in the fall, which I prefer because I love its grassiness. But dried was perfectly fine and added a slightly different taste dimension. Definitely lemon.

Second, I still had local cranberries from the holidays, and saw some at a farmers’ market a couple weeks ago so I knew I could give my self a second chance if I blew it.  Most of the berries were combined with water and maple sugar from eastern Pennsylvania to make sorbet, which I spiked with local Tomasello Vineyards cranberry wine to cut any potential iciness in the sorbet. Finally, I candied cranberries in simple syrup made with water and maple sugar, coated in more maple sugar, and used them as a garnish.

Lemon Verbena Honey Ice Cream – Local Style

1½ c milk

½ c honey

1 c loosely packed dried lemon verbena leaves

4 large egg yolks

1½ c heavy cream

Warm the milk and sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon verbena leaves and heat until the milk is nearly boiling. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for an hour.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl.  Remove the lemon verbena leaves from the milk and discard the leaves. Reheat the milk. Add a little milk to the egg yolks, whisking or stirring to warm the yolks without cooking them. When the yolks and milk are combined, return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, over medium low heat, stirring, until custard forms and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, place the cream in the bowl and put a strainer over it. When the custard is done, pour it into the cream. Let the mixture cool and refrigerate until well chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Cranberry Sorbet — Local Style

2 c fresh cranberries

1/3 c water

1/3 c maple sugar

2 tbsp Tomasello cranberry wine (or 1 tbsp vodka)

Pick over the cranberries to remove any stems inferior berries.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the cranberries and cook them until they pop and turn into a puree. There may be a few skins in the mixture. Srt aside to cool. When cool, add the wine and refrigerate until well chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Cranberries Candied in Maple Sugar

½ c – 1 c fresh cranberries

¼ c maple sugar

2 tbsp water

Additional maple sugar for coating

Pick over the cranberries to remove any stems inferior berries and place them in a shallow bowl.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook until it starts to form a light syrup. Set it aside for a few minutes before pouring over the berries. (You don’t want the berries to split open from the heat.)

Set aside to cool and then refrigerate them for several hours or overnight. (This allows the syrup to penetrate the berries.)

Sprinkle additional sugar on a plate, drain the berries (save the liquid for the sorbet or for a sauce), and roll them one at a time in the sugar to coat. Set aside, not touching each other, on a plate, to dry for several hours. They will turn into slightly crunchy, almost hard candies. Store in an airtight container.

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Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

This beautiful ice cream is simply delicious: it’s lemony and grassy from the herbs. Our CSA grew lemon verbena for the first time this year and now, in September, it’s on to a lush second growth and is plentiful. I bring home a bunch nearly every week and surprisingly find a lot of uses for it, some of which I will be posting soon as part of my “preserving herbs” series. I put together this recipe from other infused ice creams that I’ve made, feeling my way into the proportion of cream to milk (I used nonfat milk and more of it compared to the amount of cream than I’ve seen in other recipes). I did not feel the need to snip some leaves into the finished ice cream but if you had less verbena to start with, it would increase the strength of the lemon and grass overtones.

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

1½ c milk

¾ c sugar

Pinch of salt

1 c loosely packed lemon verbena leaves

4 large egg yolks

1½ c heavy cream

Optional: a few lemon verbena leaves

Warm the milk, sugar and pinch of salt over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon verbena leaves and heat until the milk is nearly boiling. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for an hour.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl.  Remove the lemon verbena leaves from the milk and discard the leaves. Reheat the milk. Add a little milk to the egg yolks, whisking or stirring to warm the yolks without cooking them. When the yolks and milk are combined, return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, over medium low heat, stirring, until custard forms and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, place the cream in the bowl and put a strainer over it. When the custard is done, pour it into the cream. Let the mixture cool (place it into a larger bowl with ice water), add a sprig of lemon verbena and refrigerate until well chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Fold in snipped leaves of lemon verbena if you want a stronger mixture.

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Paper Chef: Nectarine Upside-Down Cake with Green Tea Ice Cream

With the ingredients nectarines, cornmeal, almonds and green tea for this month’s Paper Chef, I immediately thought of an upside-down cake that I used to make — every summer it seems — but forgot about in the last couple of years. I’ve made it with both plums and nectarines. Nectarines are in full season now, with local orchards and farmers’ markets burgeoning with fruit. It’s all we can do to keep up with the produce these days.

Managing your food is a pretty challenging task, whether it’s in season or in the pantry. And of course it’s related to time and money, with health and quality of life taking first priority for us. Our CSA offers the highest quality organic produce at about a fifth of what it would cost in a supermarket chain, if you could even get it. For me, with the motto “waste not want not” as my middle name, I need to restrain myself from harvesting anything that might go to waste.  Or not make myself crazy if it simply needs to go to the compost heap.  The bounty of last summer and early fall taxes my willpower.

Many people use the recent long Labor Day weekend to catch up on reading, gardening, sleep. I used it to catch up on tomatoes, peaches and other produce, cooking and preserving them for the pantry. I was planning on making a nectarine and raspberry jam when Paper Chef came out with this challenge, so I already had the non-pantry ingredients on hand.

I like this cake. The batter, with ground almonds and cornmeal, is substantial enough to hold the fruit and is not too sweet, creating a taste and textural contrast. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth myself, and so still find the tart too sweet.  I thought that the addition of green tea – in the form of Japanese matcha, green tea powder – would do the trick. I thought of adding it to the batter but decided it would not have the same effect as a green tea whipped cream, or ice cream. (Not to mention it would look like a St. Patrick’s Day trick.) I was right about the taste combination: the grassiness of the matcha counteracted and complemented the sweet fruit.  For the ice cream, I consulted David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop but adjusted the dairy to a lower fat content.

My only regret is that I should have sprinkled toasted almonds on top after the cake was unmolded, which would have added a welcome level of crunch.

Nectarine and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake

This consists of a fruit topping layered into a baking pan, a batter poured on top, and garnishes that are added after the cake is unmolded.

Fruit topping

2 tbsp melted butter

1/3 c brown sugar

Juice of ½ lemon

5-6 nectarines, ripe but still firm

Handful of raspberries

Batter

¼ c stone ground yellow cornmeal

¼ c almond flour (or finely ground blanched almonds)

¾ c all-purpose flour (can use gluten-free)

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

7 tbsp butter

½ c milk

1 egg

½ c granulated sugar

Garnishes

Additional raspberries

Toasted almonds (optional)

Whipped cream or ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the fruit topping. Spread the 2 tbsp melted butter in a 10-inch round baking pan and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Squeeze the lemon juice onto a dinner plate. Halve the nectarines, one at a time, removing the pit and cutting each half into 6 wedges. Slide the nectarines in the lemon juice and arrange them in the pan in concentric circles, starting with the center.  Intersperse a few raspberries. Sprinkle any remaining lemon juice on top.

Make the batter. Stir together the dry ingredients, sifting it if it appears lumpy (almong flour may not sift, so add it afterwards.) Place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the butter is half melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the milk, eggs and sugar. Mix in the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit, smoothing to make sure everything is covered,

Bake 35-40 minutes, until the cake is golden and firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and unmold.  (If you wait longer to unmold, place the bottom of the pan in hot water for a few minutes to help the unmolding process.)

Garnish with a few raspberries and toasted almonds. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Green Tea Ice Cream adapted from David Lebovitz

1½ c heavy cream

4 tsp green tea powder (matcha)

1½ c milk (I used low fat)

¾ c sugar

Pinch of salt

6 egg yolks

Whisk the matcha into the cream in a large bowl. Place a strainer on top.

Warm the milk in a medium saucepan and stir in the sugar and salt, continuing to stir until the sugar dissolves. Heat the milk until hot but not scalding (140 degrees if you have a thermometer handy). Lightly beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl and pour a small amount of the hot milk into the yolks, stirring. Gradually add more milk, taking care not to cook the eggs. When all of the milk is incorporated, return the milk mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until a custard forms, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the custard to the matcha cream mixture and whisk to make sure that the tea powder is fully dissolved. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly – for several hours in the refrigerator. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

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Plum Sorbet with Ginger and Cardamom

I was listening to A Splendid Table on NPR while driving between farm and farmers market a couple of Saturdays ago and heard Mario Batali expounding on gelato made from really, really ripe fruit. This was for me, so I thought, given the really, really ripe plums on my table that were going to be a fruit fly feast if not used up. That was, until I realized the amount of eggs that would be included in such an affair. I was going along with it for a while, since the concoction used milk instead of cream. Full stop. Fast left, back to the old sorbet technique for us.

I had in mind a fruitful bold expression, and once the creamy egg-loaded gelato was off the table, I turned to spices, in this case ginger and cardamom.  I’m always mindful of the icy factor in sorbets, but plums have a pretty good consistency by themselves. Our plums were so ripe as to be watery so I had to compensate. The trick was simple syrup (water and sugar in equal amounts) steeped with fresh ginger and a pod’s worth of black cardamom seeds. 

The combination of the deep flavored plums and the perky, even challenging depth of the spices made for a great sorbet, another keeper of a recipe. 

Plum Sorbet with Ginger and Cardamom

1 qt red plums

½ c water

½ c sugar

3 quarter-sized slices of ginger

1pod green cardamom, black seeds removed and lightly crushed

Clean the plums and set aside.

Make the spiced simple syrup by combining the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Cool. Remove the cardamom seeds.

Pit the plums, remove the flesh and place the flesh into a food processor.

Pour the syrup into the food processor with the plums and pulse until smooth. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s suggestions. Makes about 1 quart.

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Blueberry Basil Sorbet

We wandered into our amazing local ice cream parlor the other day and sampled delicious and perfectly seasonal blueberry basil sorbet. This particular shop, known for unusual combinations of ingredients, always has something so completely right for the moment in addition to its usual fare, which is anything but standard. I’ve been planning on making blueberry sorbet since the beginning of the month because our local berry season is in full swing and this gave me the inspiration to do it.

 Not far from here is one of the largest commercial blueberry-growing areas of the country and we have an organic farm nearby where you can pick your own, as I typically do. The farm tents the entire blueberry patch with netting, which is intended to keep the birds from devouring the crop. However, the light mesh enclosure filled with tall bushes and climbing with vines, also creates an interesting acoustic environment. So there I am, immersed in the bushes contently fingering clusters of berries to loosen the blue orbs into my palm, and overhearing all kinds of conversations without actually seeing the people speaking! I should make a recording of this since the random simultaneous conversations create quite a palimpsest of messages, cadences and sounds.

Back to the sorbet. I haven’t made blueberry sorbet much, or maybe not even at all, so I googled it and guess what? Up popped a recipe – one of the few ever published — from Gabrielle Carbone, the proprietor of The Bent Spoon, the very shop we visited. She made simple syrup and combined it in a blender with fresh berries. As with the blueberry pie I made for the 4^th of July, I wanted the sorbet to convey the freshness of the raw berries, so making the simple syrup seemed like the right idea. It also would allow me a way to steep basil leaves and infuse the sorbet with the herb. I added fresh purple basil to half the finished batch so that I could test which way I liked it. Honestly, we liked both.  I particularly liked serving the sorbet with sliced cantaloupe, which complemented the colors, complicated the aromas and taste, and lightened the dessert. 

Finally, I got the tip from Carbone’s recipe that I’ve suspected but couldn’t confirm: she adds egg white at the end of the frozen churning process to loosen up the sorbet and keep it from icing up too much. Other techniques that I’ve used include adding alcohol (kirsch or vodka or a liqueur like Grand Marnier) or a little corn syrup. I need to experiment more with the egg white since she says to add it 2- 3 minutes before the ice cream freezer has completed its cycle and mine’s too crude to know how much longer to churn. This little experiment was a great find for a month that’s all about the berries. 

Blueberry Basil Sorbet adapted from The Bent Spoon

1 c sugar

½ c water

Pinch of salt

Handful of basil leaves, green or purple

6 c blueberries (2 lbs, 3 pints)

Juice of 1 lemon (about ¼ c)

2-3 purple basil leaves

1 large very fresh egg white

Bring the sugar, water and salt to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Let cool (15-20 minutes). Remove the basil and transfer the syrup to the bowl of a food processor. Add the blueberries and lemon juice and process until smooth. Chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours.  Shred the basil leaves fine and stir into the blueberry mixture. Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.  Add lightly beaten egg white to the processor 2-3 minutes before the ice cream is done.

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Peach and Raspberry Sorbet

This is like the famous dessert Peach Melba but without the ice cream. “Peach Melba” was invented by Auguste Escoffier in Paris and named after a singer named Nellie Melba. It typically consists of a peach and raspberry sauce served over vanilla ice cream. The first white peaches of the summer and the first red raspberries made a delicious, aromatic sorbet, which was stunningly gorgeous in color from the white peaches tinged with rosy hues and the addition of just a few raspberries.

Peach and Raspberry Sorbet

6 medium white peaches

Lemon juice

1 c water

1 c sugar

1 vanilla bean

1/3 c raspberries

2 tbsp corn syrup

Peel the peaches by plunging them one at a time into a pot of boiling water for a second or two, then running them under cold water. The skin will slip right off. Cut them into chunks and sprinkle them with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the vanilla bean and the peaches and poach at a simmer until the peaches are cooked. Do not overcook. Let the peach mixture cool and remove the vanilla bean. Process the cooled peach mixture, raspberries and corn syrup in a food processor until smooth and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until well chilled. Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Makes 1 quart.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet with Ginger

I recalled from last year’s excellent rhubarb sorbet that rhubarb creates a good texture and the addition of a little corn syrup allowed a creamy and non-icy texture.  This year, I decided to incorporate strawberries and spice it up with ginger. I often see candied ginger added to jams and other concoctions, so I “candied” fresh ginger in the simple syrup used to poach the rhubarb. This was piquant and refreshing, great for the last sorbet of spring.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet with Ginger

1 c water

1 c sugar

2 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 lb rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pt strawberries, hulled

2 tbsp clear corn syrup

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil to make simple syrup. Add the ginger and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the rhubarb and simmer until soft and falling apart, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set the rhubarb aside to cool.

When the rhubarb mixture is completely cool, add the strawberries and corn syrup and puree the mixture in a food processor until smooth. Refrigerate until very cold.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Makes about a quart or a little more.

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Strawberry Ice Cream

I made an awesome orange-strawberry sorbet the other day, not documented but hopeful, although it was icy. I was surprised, since it had added an abundant amount of orange zest and Grand Marnier liqueur and a reasonable amount of pulp. Every frozen concoction goes through the exercise of texture, so-called mouth feel (not my favorite expression). So, with another abundance of strawberries, I went in the opposite direction, to ice cream.

I haven’t made strawberry ice cream, or for that matter, any ice cream, in ages. So, looking back through records, I see gelatin base, the addition of egg yolks, and just cream and fruit.  This time I went back to the gelatin. You can tell it’s there but it’s not intrusive like those gummy additives in commercial ice cream.  This is good, believe me.  

Strawberry Ice Cream

1 ½ pts strawberries

1 ½ tsp gelatin

¼ c cool water

1 ½ c heavy cream, divided into ½ c and 1 c measures

¾ c granulated sugar

Clean and hull the strawberries. Cut them in half if large and buzz them in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Bring ½ c of cream to the scalding point (just before it boils) and combine it with the gelatin. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Let cool slightly and add the remaining cream and the strawberries. Chill thoroughly and process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 1 quart.

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Happy Mother’s Day: Coconut Sorbet with Rhubarb Sauce and Strawberries

To say that your life is not your own when you’re a mom is an understatement, but that’s the way my professional work is as well. Unpredictable.  So you can either become a grump or learn to enjoy improvisation.  At home, I love looking in my pantry or refrigerator to see what combinations suit the occasion and the diverse palates of my guests. It helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve for unexpected visitors on any day. And at any time

Preparing a last minute meal late on a Sunday night after a gorgeous day in a garden full of Angelique tulips was a pleasure. Especially after a great Saturday at the farmer’s market where there was an abundance of asparagus, green garlic, leeks and ramps, spinach, and rhubarb. For Mother’s Day dessert, I made an expedited coconut sorbet with rhubarb sauce and strawberries on top. In retrospect I could have folded the rhubarb into the sorbet. Next time. I could also have made little ginger cookies to go along with this. Another day. This quick dessert was just perfect to cap off an enjoyable evening with my family. I’m a happy mom.

Coconut Sorbet

1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk, preferably organic

1 can’s measure of water

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk the coconut milk, add the water, sugar and vanilla, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Chill thoroughly  (use the freezer to expedite the chilling process). Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 1 quart.

Rhubarb Sauce

4-5 thin or 2 thick stalks of rhubarb

¼-1/3 c sugar

2-3 tbsp water (less with very young rhubarb, more with older, larger rhubarb)

Clean the rhubarb, peeling the stalk if it is fibrous. Cut into ½-inch pieces. Place in pan with the water and sugar.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the rhubarb, uncovered, until it is tender and nearly dissolved.  Taste and adjust the sugar level if it is too tart.

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