Blackberry Sorbet & Ice Cream

Frozen desserts come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There's everything from the icy granita to fruity sorbet to the Americanized sherbet to creamy gelato to the waffle-cone-crowned king of them all, ice cream. I had a tough decision to make when trying to choose which of these frigid treats to make, and in the end I simply refused to decide.


Blackberry season is upon us. I found these monstrous fruits at my local farmer's market. One taste of these violet clusters will make your mind start spinning with possibilities. After much thought, I decided to make both a blackberry sorbet and a blackberry ice cream. It is summer, after all, and you cannot have too many treats to keep you cool.

Blackberry Sorbet
Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book. Makes 3 cups.

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3 cups blackberries
1 tbsp lime juice

Directions
Combine the water, corn syrup and sugar in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat and boil without stirring for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.


Place the syrup, blackberries and lime juice in a food processor and puree until smooth. I strained the mixture after this because the seeds in blackberries love to get stuck in my teeth. Cover and refrigerate until cold. If you are using an ice cream maker that generates its own cold (i.e. not with a frozen bowl), then you can skip the refrigeration.

Stir the sorbet base and pour into ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. When finished, you can eat the sorbet right away or freeze it until it's more firm.

Blackberry Ice Cream
Adapted from Not So Humble Pie. Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients
1.5 cups blackberries
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1.75 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 large egg (if you're worried about the raw egg, you can leave it out)
1 dash of lemon juice

Directions
Using a food processor, blend together the blackberries and brown sugar. Strain the mixture as in the previous recipe, if desired. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and blend until everything looks homogeneous.


Chill the mixture in the refrigerator. Pour the ice cream base into the ice cream maker according to your manufacturer's instructions. Enjoy right away or freeze for a firmer final product.


The first aspect of making these two desserts back-to-back was that the sorbet turned out a very dark, black-purple color while the ice cream was a lovely lavender (perhaps good for Easter-time?). The sorbet has a very intense blackberry flavor. Depending on the tartness level of the berries you choose, it could easily be anywhere from very sweet to quite bitter, so I would recommend only making this when you have moderately sweet blackberries on hand. The ice cream was very creamy and had a more subtle flavor. I was surprised by the addition of cream cheese (mascarpone in the original recipe), and you can taste it in the background. In the end, I'm glad I made both desserts because they go very well together.

Orange Leaf

Frozen yogurt is making a comeback. In my mind, frogurt has gone through two phases: 1) being the low-cal alternative to ice cream, and 2) being itself. It may be that our collective palettes are maturing. Or that the tart flavor of the yogurt tastes more "natural." Or maybe we just love things that come in ultra-modern, Asian-ish packages. Whatever the cause, frogurt is in and it's delicious.


The newest frozen yogurt shop in the Triangle is Orange Leaf in Chapel Hill's Timberlyne plaza. As you can see from this picture on a Saturday night, this place is popular, and it has good reason to be. If you've read my previous post about Local Yogurt, then you already know that our area is blessed with a wonderful yogurt shop. Local Yogurt serves up four flavors of yogurt plus a large plethora of toppings, all charged a la carte. But Orange Leaf has a different perspective. They have around 15 flavors (plus twists) and lots of toppings. The clincher is that everything is priced by weight. So you can have as much or as little of nearly every flavor in this store possible.


When I first walked in, my mind could not handle all of the possibilities. I would have more pictures of everything if there were not so many people that may have been offended to be filmed. I don't even want to start calculating all the flavor combinations. My plan of attack was to create five mini forgurt sections in my large cup. Without going into too much detail, I tried pomegranate, peanut butter, mango, taro, and pineapple. They also had cheesecake, blueberry, plain, coffee, green tea (not as good as the others), and many more. For toppings, I used Reese's Pieces, brownie, Rice Krispie treat (a little stale), mochi, gummi worms, Rainsinettes, and one of the coolest toppings I've ever come across. They are called bursting boba and they look like differently colored fish eggs. If you're familiar with bubble tea, these are similar to the boba in those drinks. The difference is that these are balls of juice encapsulated in a thin membrane. The slightest pressure on that membrane and *pop* a burst of fruit juice in your mouth. In the end, I had five microcosms of flavor from which to eat on a hot summer night. I love having lots of little flavor options with my food, so needless to say, I was in heaven at Orange Leaf.

Frozen Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is the latest craze to happen to yogurt since fruit-on-the-bottom. It's not for the faint of heart. It's not sweetened up like American yogurts. It's tangy, but thick and luscious. What better base to use to make real frozen yogurt?

Frozen Greek Yogurt
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine. Yields 1 quart.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
2 cup Greek yogurt (2% fat)
1 cup buttermilk
5 tsp lemon juice

Directions
Warm the first four ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a large bowl to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (or else a film will form on top).

Whisk in remaining ingredients and chill in the refrigerator until very cold, at least 3 hours.

Freeze yogurt in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

When serving, top with your choice of toppings. I used passionfruit and blackberries, but honey, strawberry jam, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. all would work just as well.


Frozen yogurt, like yogurt, has seen a new wave of innovation. All of a sudden, shops are appearing that are not serving frozen yogurt the ice cream substitute, but rather they are serving yogurt-based ice cream. I don't know how we ever lived on icy and flavorless frozen yogurt before this new creation came on the scene. Now you can make your own at home and enjoy the creamy tang. This version is a little sweeter than just straight yogurt, so even those who have not taken to Greek yogurt will enjoy this frozen treat. And if you don't, just douse it in chocolate sauce and still feel proud that you are getting a healthy(er) serving of dairy.

Spiced Clementine-Honey Granita

My exploits with clementines continue! Even though it's bitterly cold outside right now, I've been in the mood to make some sort of frozen dessert. So here's what I put together:

Spiced Clementine-Honey Granita
Yields: 4 cups

Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp clementine zest
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 whole star anise
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
2 cup clementine juice (I cut mine with some orange juice)
3 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions
Combine the first eight ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until mixture is thick and reduced to 2 cups. Discard star anise, bay leaf and cloves. Cool.

At this point you can strain the mixture if you want a clear final product. I did not strain because I liked the flecks of orange zest. Add clementine and lemon juices to the mixture. If you want sorbet at this point, I would chill this mixture in the fridge, then put it into an ice cream maker. If you want a granita, put the mixture into a container and place in the freezer. Every 30-60 minutes, scrape the granita with a fork to break up the large chunks.


The end result is a complex combination of flavors. The clementine and honey dominates, but tones of clove, anise and bay leaf come through. I did not think bay leaf would be this good in a dessert, but it was quite amazing. I've never made a granita before and part of me felt it was going to be like eating a slushie without the flavorings. But it turns out the ice of a granita melts quickly, exuding the delicious flavors onto your taste buds.

The good thing is that one scoop is very satisfying. I don't feel compelled to make a huge sundae like I would with ice cream. So this dessert not only takes advantage of seasonal clementines, but it's also a great way to start off 2010 on the right foot.

Cherry Gelato

I had gum surgery a little over a week ago, meaning I was on a soft food diet for a few days. In order to make may days of eating Campbell's soup and protein shakes more enjoyable, I decided to lift my spirits by doing some cooking. What is great about having some sort of oral surgery is that you can justify eating large quantities of ice cream. My thought process is this: limiting myself to soups and protein shakes means my caloric intake is not up to its normal amount. Physical discomfort and difficulty eating mean my food intake is slower and I feel full faster. Plus I need to keep my food intake up to par to help with the healing process. Therefore, I should eat an inordinate amount of ice cream to speed my recovery and keep my spirits up.


What you see is cherry gelato. This is my first chance to make this recipe since cherries are now in season. The recipe I had used whole milk as the base, flavored with a vanilla bean and some turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw), and thickened with cornstarch. The cherry portion was a blend of cherries, turbinado sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts. After cooling both of these portions, they were combined and placed in my ice cream maker. The end result had a great flavor. The cherries really stand out with a background of almonds. I may have liked some larger cherry pieces mixed in, but it was still good. I think using the whole milk may have increased the size of some of the ice crystals in the gelato. The consistency is good but every once in a while you come across a decently sized ice crystal. But upgrading to heavy cream would have meant a good deal more calories, so whole milk is a good substitute. I'm not totally crazy to think that if I did eat extra calories while I'm not being as active as normal would not mean an increase in fat mass. A few extra ice crystals could go a long way to keeping off those few extra pounds. The holiday calories, after all, are only a couple months a way...

Local Yogurt - 7/29/2009

I heard about the opening of a new ice cream store and, like a good ice cream fanatic, had to try it.


The store is called Local Yogurt. They serve actual frozen yogurt (aka "frogurt" but never "froyo"). Most frozen yogurt is just light ice cream but the original flavor at Local Yogurt has a wonderfully tangy taste to it, like real yogurt. Who'd have thought? They have 3 other flavors that they rotate regularly which are not as tart but definitely delicious. I've seen blueberry, chocolate, peanut butter, butter pecan, and others so far. My first time I had peanut butter frogurt with potato chips. This time around, pictured above, was original flavor with blackberries and cubed mochi (a glutenous rice substance that is like gummi that does not freeze up in the yogurt. They have beaucoups of other toppings too, including Fruity Pebbles, many different fruits, chocolate curls, and candy bars. Of all of the ice cream markets that already exist (gelato eaten with small spoons, Dairy Queen eaten by the bucketful, Cold Stone eaten after some massaging), Local Yogurt is already carving out a niche for itself with a unique idea and a product that won't impact your waistline as severely as most of its competitors.

4th of July & Buttercream Flowers - 7/5/2009

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope everyone had a filling and safe 4th of July. I realized this year it's strange that on one of the days near the peak of the summer heat, we spend the day cooking in front of a grill and lighting fireworks. It seems we like to celebrate the birth of our nation by sweating all day long. Anyways, here's what I whipped up for a small gathering of my classmates.


As a simple appetizer, I made Muhammara. Instead of a perennial dip like spinach-artichoke or hummus, I chose the road less travelled which happens to run through Syria, the birthplace of this dip. It's primary constituents are roasted red peppers and walnuts with some cumin as the primary spice. The overall consistency is more like a thick paste, but it can be thinned down if need be. Not only is the dip easy, it's just different flavors that I think take your taste buds by surprise. So ditch the old dips and slip your chip into this tip and you'll be licking your lips.


I did not manage to take individual pictures of the main course and side items, but everything worth mentioning is on my plate (go figure). I like to run my parties as potlucks so I'm not left doing all of the cooking. This also prevents me from going overboard and preparing too much food for the occasion. So the main items to focus on are the burger and the cornbread. The pork burgers feature an apricot-chipotle mayonnaise that really livened up its flavor. The mayo has a sweetness balanced by a subtle, smokey heat that helps to counter the fattiness of the mayonnaise. If you prefer your pork well-done, be sure to not overcook it so that it becomes to dry. Not even mayonnaise can save it then.

These burgers met with critical acclaim, but the biggest smash of the main course was the cornbread. A little birdie gave me the idea, which I thought was absolutely genius: corn dog bread. Who doesn't love a corn dog? But who needs to go through the hassle of skewering and frying all those wieners when you can merely slip them into your favorite cornbread recipe? I love to keep everything a surprise, and this side item pretends to be normal cornbread until you cut into it. Then it's Crouching Hot Dog, Hidden Deliciousness comes to the forefront. I had to stop myself from eating the entire pan's-worth because it had all of my favorite elements of corn dogs, only in smaller pieces. I would definitely recommend this very simple twist on a fair food classic for pretty much any excuse you can find to make it. July 4th? Yes. Birthday? Sure. Monday? Why not?


Since the grill was already heated up, why not a grilled dessert. The great thing about fibrous fruits like pineapple and stonefruit is that they hold up well on a grill. Grill marks look great on almost everything, and they help to caramelize the sugars in the fruit. Plus warm pineapple puts cold pineapple to shame. On top of this great base is drizzled a diluted Nutella sauce, then dollops of a vanilla-infused mascarpone. You can also throw on some toasted hazelnuts to really finish it all off. Giada may not look it, but she knows her way around a dessert.


My favorite dessert, though, is this watermelon sorbet. I took Alton Brown's recipe and infused it with some Martha Stewart inspiration. While making the sorbet, I remembered some flavors she used on some fresh watermelon a few years back, so I dropped the vodka (I don't know why you'd really need it anyways since it would drop the melting temperature) and added some honey and a healthy dose of freshly grated ginger. The ginger kick helped give the watermelon a surprising bite so that it wasn't just sweet melon with more sugar then frozen. I attempted a nice display in a watermelon rind, but my scooping does need a little work. Presentation not withstanding, this sorbet was the runaway hit for our desserts without being too overbearing.


On a different note, cake class this week was how to make frosting flowers. Pictured above are a plain, simple swirl, a daffodil (my best was still not very realistic), a rose, a sunflower, and a hyacinth with leaves. My favorite were the hyacinth since they were the easiest to make, yet the most amazing to look at. The lesson learned for this class was you really need the right equipment (i.e. piping tips) to make just the right shapes for each of the flowers. The wrong size tip can make the difference of making a flower that looks like a nice representation of nature using frosting versus one that could be a flower placed on top of the cupcake. For those, like me, who care almost equally about flavor as about decoration, the cupcakes this week were from Shelly Kaldunski's book, Cupcakes. Half were gingerbread (with fresh ginger) and half were mocha, and all were topped with a vanilla-white chocolate buttercream. I thought they tasted good, and apparently my lab did too because they disappeared in less than 24 hours. Sweet.