Summertime is my favorite time of the year. I grew up in Louisiana so I enjoy the hot, humid weather. I love the smell of fresh cut grass, the hum of the insects jumping from one flower to another in the garden, fresh produce at the local farmers markets or out of my garden, the smell of the ocean in the air, the flight of a butterfly, and of course, berries. I love all types of berries. Summertime for me starts with arrival of strawberries and continues on through raspberries, cherries, blackberries, and blueberry seasons.
Living in Louisiana, when it was hot or even if it wasn't, my favorite treat was a Sno-ball or as non-Southerners would call, a Snowcone. We're not talking a Hawaiian Ice or a snowball off an ice cream truck that is so hard it breaks your teeth. We are talking about a New Orleans Style Sno-Ball. Large blocks of ice are shaved on a machine called the Southern New Orleans snow maker and then stuffed in a Styrofoam cup and a funnel is used to make the top of it. The ice is a perfect consistency between chunky ice and very soft ice. The Hansen family from New Orleans invented this machine and if you travel to New Orleans, you can stop in at their shop, Hansen's Sno-Bliz Sweet Shop, located in the 4800 block of Tchoupitoulas. Syrup, not just water and sugar mixed, is then added to the top of the cone. The syrup is boiled and consists of pure cane sugar, water, and flavoring. My favorite Sno-ball combination was Cherry, Coconut, and Blue Raspberry. The sno-ball was a very patriotic creation. Some other choices that are added to sno-balls, besides syrup, are ice cream, cream, or chocolate. I wasn't really big on adding cream to my sno-ball but friends of mine where. I mentioned to my husband about maybe doing a Sno-ball machine during my summer markets and he, being a Northerner, thinks that it really wouldn't take off. Maybe I'll get the machine just for me so that I can have sno-balls whenever I want instead of when I head south for a visit.
A few posts this month have been centered around Strawberries. Since I can't have a sno-ball, I figured I would go to the next best thing, sorbet. I love sorbet over sherbet. Whole Fruit has some amazing sorbets and I recently tried some sorbets from a company called Ciao Bella. I love the Lemon Zest and the Blood Orange. They have many more flavors and I just hope my local store will start to carry them. Sometimes I'll make a fruit Sorbet. It can be done using an ice cream machine or not and is fairly simple and easy to do.
Sorbet became very popular in the 19th and 20th centuries as a palate cleaner between meals. It's usually referred to as Intermezzo, which translates into "in between the work." Sorbets are usually known as ice and have a softer consistency than sherbets, which contain milk and sometimes eggs. Fruit sorbets usually consists of 3 ingredients: water, sugar, and fruit. Other ingredients can be added based on the type of sorbet you want.
Here's a recipe for Strawberry Sorbet. Enjoy.
Ingredients: 1/3 c water, 1/3 cup sugar, 2.5 c or 1 pound of fresh/frozen strawberries*, 1 TBSP lemon juice.
Instructions: (1) Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and over low heat, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil the mixture for one minute then remove from the heat. Pour sugar syrup into a heatproof container and place in fridge until completely chilled.* (2) Process strawberries in a food processor until pureed. Transfer puree to a large bowl and add the lemon juice and place bowl in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. (3) Once syrup and strawberry puree are completely chilled, combine simple syrup with the strawberries. Transfer to a chilled container of an ice cream machine* and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer sorbet to a chilled container and store in the freezer.
*Local strawberries at farmers markets are the best since they have flavor and sweetness. If you can't obtain fresh, local strawberries, use frozen ones. Usually the strawberries at a grocery store lack flavor and sweetness though they look all read and shinny.
*If you taste the sorbet after freezing and the amount of sugar isn't right, adjust the level of sugar syrup. Add some syrup if there is too little sugar in the sorbet or add water if there is too much sugar in the sorbet. Refreeze the sorbet.
*Since it takes time to make the syrup, make a large quantity and store in the fridge so you have it ready to go when you want to make more sorbet.
*If you don't have a machine, pour mixture into a stainless steel pan (8", 9"...). The metal will help the sorbet to freeze faster. You can use a glass pan if you want it will just take longer. Cover the sorbet with plastic wrap and place in freezer. After 3-4 hours, remove sorbet from freezer and let it stand at room temperature until partially thawed. Transfer partially thawed sorbet to a food processor and process to break up large ice crystals. This gives the sorbet a fluffy texture. Place sorbet back in the pan and refreeze for 3 hours or up to several days.
