Peach Mango Sorbet

This sorbet was a delicious blend of peaches and mango. It's a little thicker than the raspberry one I love, but so refreshing!

Peach Mango Sorbet

2 cups peaches (can use frozen peach slices or 4 peaches)
1 fresh mango, cut into chunks
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Cut up fruit and put into the blender. In a saucepan, mix water and sugar on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour water/sugar mixture (simple syrup) into blender with fruit. Blend until smooth. Use a strainer and strain fruit/water. Put strained fruit into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator 2 hours. Pour into an ice cream maker and enjoy!

Lemon Strawberry Sorbet

Last Sorbet Recipe! I promise! This one was good, but it tasted a lot like freezer strawberry jam. A little too similar.

We ranked our favorite sorbets tonight and surprisingly, this is how they ranked:

#1 - Lemon Sorbet

#2 - Raspberry Sorbet

#3 - This one (Strawberry Sorbet)

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Sorbet

1 lemon, seeded and roughly chopped

2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Chocolate Sorbet

I'm currently on a huge sorbet kick! I love it! Especially Raspberry! Actually, maybe I'm just in love with my new ice cream maker. So far, we've made homemade ice cream and sorbet at least a dozen times! Recently, I tried coconut sorbet, which was good and thick and creamy, but nothing to write home about (or post on a blog). So, when I saw this chocolate sorbet, I had to try it!

Oh, and I wanted it to be soooo good. I mean, it's chocolate! How can it not be great? I even took lots of photos to document this dessert. But when I tried the finished product it left me wanting to eat something else and not something with chocolate in it.

It's made from a lot of semisweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Because it's sorbet it does NOT have any milk in it. So there it is. I should have known I wasn't going to be in love with it. Semisweet chocolate and no milk. It tastes just like it sounds. Don't get me wrong. It tastes very chocolatey. Just the wrong kind of chocolate.

Chocolate Sorbet

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water

1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (yes, you must use a large one or it will bubble over. Trust me.), whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it’s melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out. 

*Recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

Raspberry Sorbet

Holy Cow! This was amazing!! I know that by telling you how much I absolutely loved this, that I'll be setting your expectations super high; but I think that this recipe will totally live up to it's expectations. It was so delicious!!

Forget that Lemon Sorbet recipe I gave you a while ago. It's no good. You are only going to want to make this Raspberry Sorbet every week from now until eternity! Wowza!

I made this in my ice cream maker, but if you don't have one, you could probably make this similarly to the instructions for lemon sorbet.

Makes 5 cups (ten 1/2 cup servings)

• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Prepare a simple syrup with the water and sugar by combining both in a saucepan set on medium low heat. Cook until sugar is fully dissolved.

• pinch of salt
• 4 cups frozen raspberries, thawed

Add the raspberries and salt. 

Blend until smooth. Strain the mixture (half at a time) through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Use a spatula to help. Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours (or overnight).

 

Pour into ice cream maker and let mix until thickened. (about 15-20 minutes). Serve!

Blueberry Popsicles

Mmmmm! Now that it's summer, it's popsicle time! These are so good. And why wouldn't they be? They are made with ice cream! They taste like a blueberry milkshake.

Here's the recipe (from Martha Stewart)

I bought a new popsicle maker to make these. Here's the one I bought, but any one would work.

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups blueberries
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Cook blueberries, lemon juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries release their juices, about 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve, pressing on berries to extract liquid. Discard solids.
2. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. Transfer to a blender along with ice cream, and puree until smooth. Divide mixture among fourteen 2 1/2-ounce ice-pop molds, and freeze until hardened, at least 4 hours.

Orange Julius

Lemon Sorbet

This year instead of cake, Jayna wanted Lemon Sorbet for her birthday dessert. And who could blame her? This tastes like a refreshing, frozen lemonade. It takes a few hours to freeze, but only a few minutes to whip up nice and creamy. With only 3 ingredients, you probably have everything to make this right now.

3 cups sugar

5 cups boiling water
2 cups lemon juice

Combine sugar and water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in lemon juice. Pour into a shallow pan (I use a 9x13) and freeze overnight. {Since there's alot of sugar, it won't freeze completely hard.} When frozen put chunks into a food processor or blender and blend until fluffy. You can serve it now, or refreeze. Makes about 8 cups.

UPDATE: We have started using our ice cream maker to make this in, and it has turned out better than ever! 

Spinach and Tortellini Salad

This cold pasta salad is perfect for potlucks or lunches! Yum!

1 (9 ounce) package cheese-filled tortellini
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing

Directions
In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente, rinse under cold water and drain.
In a large bowl, combine the tortellini, spinach, cheese, tomatoes and olives. Add enough salad dressing to coat. Toss and season with salt and pepper. {I let in sit in the fridge for a while to chill out.}