Strawberry Sorbet with Cantaloupe and Mint
Three cups of strawberries and two of cantaloupe over a syrup steeped with lemon zest and mint. The melon supplies the body a pure berry batch lacks, and a full cup of sugar keeps it scoopable rather than solid.
Ingredients
For the Mint Syrup
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest the colored layer only, no white pith
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves packed
For the Sorbet
- 3 cups strawberries hulled, about 15 ounces, large ones halved
- 2 cups diced cantaloupe about 11 ounces of flesh, rind scrubbed before cutting
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vodka keeps it scoopable, and it does not taste of vodka
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Steep the Mint Syrup
- Warm the sugar, the water and the lemon zest in a small pan over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the syrup is at a bare simmer. That takes about 4 minutes and no longer.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the packed mint leaves and leave it to steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain out the mint and the zest and discard them. Steeping off the heat is deliberate; mint boiled in syrup turns grassy and dull.
Blend and Chill the Base
- Blend the strained syrup with the strawberries, the cantaloupe, the lemon juice, the vodka and the salt until it is completely smooth. Taste it. If it is very sharp add a tablespoon more sugar, and remember that cold mutes sweetness, so a base that tastes only just sweet enough now will taste thin frozen.
- Pour it into a bowl, cover it and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, until it is thoroughly cold rather than merely cool. For a silkier scoop, push the base through a fine sieve first to take out the strawberry seeds.
Churn and Freeze
- Churn the cold base in an ice cream maker for 20 to 25 minutes, until it mounds and holds the trail of a spoon. It will be soft coming out of the machine, which is correct rather than a failure.
- Scrape it into a chilled container with a rubber spatula, press a sheet of parchment onto the surface and freeze it for 3 hours before scooping. Let it stand on the counter for 5 minutes before serving and use a hot dry spoon.
Without an Ice Cream Maker
- Pour the chilled base into a shallow metal pan and freeze it for 45 minutes, then rake it thoroughly with a fork, breaking up everything set around the edges. Repeat every 30 minutes for about 3 hours, five or six rakings in all. The texture comes out flakier, closer to a granita. Alternatively freeze the base solid in an ice cube tray and blitz the cubes in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of cold water until creamy.
Notes
Adapted from Garrett McCord, via Simply Recipes.
The sugar has been raised from 2/3 cup to a full cup, and the water cut from 1/2 cup to 1/3. That original ratio landed near 18 percent sugar across the base, which is under the 24 to 30 percent a sorbet needs, and it froze into a block.
Vodka is not really optional here. Alcohol does not freeze at freezer temperatures, so a tablespoon is what keeps the batch soft enough to scoop.
Chill the base at least 4 hours or overnight. A base that goes in warm robs the machine bowl of its chill and the result is grainy.
No ice cream maker: freeze the base in a shallow metal pan for 45 minutes, rake it hard with a fork, then repeat every 30 minutes for about 3 hours.
Storage: best within 1 week, good for 1 month, in a shallow container with parchment pressed onto the surface.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 1.5g | Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 400mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 2700IU | Vitamin C: 90mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.7mg