It’s been a hot summer. Maybe it seems hotter because it’s my first full summer in the city, where I’m pretty much a sticky mess topped with a fine layer of dust by noon, but according to the news, there’s more to it than the heat island effect – it’s been unusually hot all over the country. There’s even a wikipedia page about it, so it must be true. But having a scorcher of a summer isn’t all bad – it means happy tomatoes, extra-refreshing dips in the pond, and an excuse to eat even more ice cream than I normally might.
Making at least three kinds of ice cream was on my summer bucket list this year (stay tuned for an update soon!), and this plum sorbet makes three. Not that that means there won’t be one or two more batches before the weather turns :-). I was surprised by the simplicity and wholesomeness of this recipe – all you do is toss some plum halves with a bit of sugar and honey, blend, then freeze, and you have a gorgeously purple, refreshing, smooth sorbet. Actually, the texture of this sorbet is easily the best of any homemade ice cream I’ve made – it doesn’t melt on contact with your spoon, and it has just enough airy-smoothness for my taste. It’s another winning recipe from Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Suppers at Lucques, a book in which not a single recipe I’ve tried has been disappointing. Suzanne suggests pairing this sorbet with these molasses cookies to make ice cream sandwiches, something I didn’t try this time around but definitely will in the future.
Counting sorbet as a “health” recipe for Greatist may seem a little suspect, but everyone needs a little something sweet sometimes – why not satisfy your cravings with a relatively light treat packed with fresh fruit? You could even reduce the sugar somewhat, although your sorbet will freeze harder and be less creamy if you do so, as the sugar is one of the main things that keeps ice cream from freezing (read more here). Head on over to Greatist for the recipe, and while you’re over there, check out their fun ice cream infographic. (See, I’m not the only one who thinks ice cream has a place on health websites!)
Other tasty ice cream recipes from here…
- Lemon basil sorbet
- Cherry-chocolate ice cream
- Lemon buttermilk ice cream
- Roasted cinnamon ice cream
- Bailey’s fudge ripple ice cream
… and around the blogosphere
- Chocolate pretzel frozen custard from A Spicy Perspective
- Grapefruit and rosemary granita from In Sock Monkey Slippers
- Blackberry-cabernet sorbet from Gimme Some Oven
- Caramel brownie chunk nutella ice cream from Brave Tart
- Goat cheese ice cream with roasted strawberries from Heather Homemade
- Basil olive oil gelato from Cookie Talk
I have that book but still haven’t made anything from it. I think this gorgeous sorbet may have to be the first! :)
Such a delicious way of using summer bounty!
I love the way you set up the shots of this, and how you contrasted the sorbet! It looks amazing :) amazing pictures :)
Thanks! I have a lot of fun using the darker tones.
Do you need an ice cream maker to make this? I love sorbet but I don’t have that machine :(
I think this recipe would be fairly successful without a machine, given the texture of the sorbet mixture. Almost any ice cream or sorbet recipe can be made without a machine by putting the chilled mixture in the freezer and stirring every half an hour until it is frozen hard. This will never result in that perfect, airy, creamy texture – but it will still taste delicious and refreshing!