As soon as it’s sandal-wearing weather, I dust off my ice cream machine and start tinkering with sorbet (and ice cream) recipes. I’ve made sorbets with everything from grapefruit to cucumbers. Any sweetened fruit (or vegetable) juice works nicely, and it’s fun coming up with your own tasty variations. Sorbets make refreshing desserts, welcome interludes between courses, and creative cocktails laced with gin or vodka.
Even if you don’t have an ice cream machine, you can still make a frosty honeydew granita using this recipe. (I’ve provided instructions below.) Sorbets are smooth-textured, whereas granitas are more granular.
You’ll need to plan ahead – if using an electric or hand-cranked ice cream machine, you’ll need to freeze the canister insert 24 hours before using.
Makes About 3 Cups
■ 1 cup sugar
■ 1 cup water
■ 1 large honeydew melon, approximately 4 pounds
■ 3 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (approximately 1 lime), plus more as needed.
■ An electric ice cream maker
In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium-low heat. Cool the syrup, then transfer to the refrigerator until completely chilled. (You will not need all the syrup; leftover syrup can be stored in the refrigerator until the next time you make sorbet.)
Cut the melon in half and remove the seeds. Scoop the flesh from the melon and chop it coarsely. Place the chopped melon in a food processor and puree. Strain the pulp from the liquid; you should have about 2 cups of strained melon juice. Add the lime juice and 1 cup of syrup. Taste the sweetened juice. Depending on the ripeness of your melon, you made need to add a bit more lime or sugar syrup. Place the sweetened juice in the refrigerator until chilled thoroughly.
When the juice is well chilled, pour the mixture into a frozen ice cream canister and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
To make a granita – Pour the mixture into a wide shallow container and place in the freezer. When the liquid starts to form ice crystals, drag a fork along the bottom of the container to agitate and turn the mixture. You’ll need to repeat this every half hour or so until the mixture is icy and fairly uniform.
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