And so I learnt the difference between the four kinds of ice that could be made: cordiale or liquors, into which crushed snow was stirred to chill them; granite, shavings of frozen water over which were poured syrups made from rosewater or oranges; sorbetti, more complex water ices, in which it was the syrups themselves that were frozen, the mixture paddled as it hardened so that the fragments lay in the pot like a glittering mound of sapphires; and finally sherbets, the most difficult of all, made with milk that had been infused with mastic or cardamom, so that they resembled snow that had refrozen overnight. I learned how to construct chilled obelisks of jelly; how to use silversmiths’ moulds to cast fantastic frozen plates and bowls, and how to carve the ice into extravagant table decorations. I mastered the spectacular entertainments of the great engineer Buontalenti, who had constructed fountains, tables, and even whole grottos of ice. ~ The Empress of Ice Cream (pages 9 – 10)
I’m still on an ice cream-making high after reading The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella (see here and here). It’s a story about a young Italian ice cream maker who falls in love with a beautiful, French woman, sent to become the mistress of Charles II, King of England.
Like the character in the book, I’m learning how to make different types of ices. Slowly. First I made a chocolate sauce to go over ice cream; then I made an orange ice (granite). Over the weekend, I made a mango sorbet from a recipe I found on Kalyn’s Kitchen. I was doubly excited about the recipe for two reasons. 1 – I love mangoes and 2- I didn’t need the aid of an ice cream-making machine (I don’t own one).
I was very satisfied with the way my Mango Sorbet came out. It tasted sweet, cool, and fresh. I liked it a lot. Apparently, others at home liked it a lot, too. The next morning I found the empty sorbet container in the kitchen sink. I guess I’ll have to make some more.
The best thing about preparing my own food (or in this case, my own sorbet) is that I know what is in the food. I know that there are no artificial ingredients. Best of all, the food (ice cream) tastes great! Nothing beats homemade.
With a couple of weeks left in the summer season, I plan on making more ices and ice cream to help cool down.
By the way, I’m still looking for my own personal ice cream maker (and I’m not talking about a machine). You can find my ad here.
Paz
Low Sugar Mango Sorbet (without an ice cream freezer)
(Makes 4 small servings, adapted from Mango Sorbet at AllRecipes.)
from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Ingredients:
2 large very ripe mangoes
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Granulated Stevia In The Raw, Splenda, or sugar
1 1/2 T fresh lime juice
Instructions:
In a small pan combine the water and sweetener and bring to a boil. Turn off and let the mixture cool while you peel and cut up the mangoes.
To peel the mangoes, slice along each side of the flat seed, guiding your knife to come as close as you can to the mango seed. Then slice away any other mango flesh that still clings to the seed. Peel away the skin and chop the flesh.
Put the chopped mango and lime juice in a food processor and process for about 45 seconds, until the mixture is quite pureed. Add the cooled simple sugar mixture and process about 45 second more, until there are no lumps.
Put the mixture into a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid and put it in the freezer. Ever 30 minutes, remove bowl from the freezer, scrape away the frozen part around the edges and whisk it into the mixture. Total freezing time is 3-4 hours, depending on how cold your freezer is. For my freezer, I would freeze it 4 hours next time for a slightly firmer sorbet.
Divide into individual bowls and serve. This recipe could easily be doubled and made in an ice cream freezer.