Super-Simple Sorbet
Makes: About 2 cups
Time: 10 minutes, with already frozen fruit
No ice cream maker? No problem. This sorbet uses a food processor to turn frozen fruit and a bit of something creamy into a delicious frozen dessert. Store-bought frozen fruit makes this a snap all year round; in summer, just wash and freeze whatever you bring home from the market, and a couple hours later you’re ready to go. (All stone fruit works beautifully; peel it first—see Chapter 10.)
Some ideas: Honeydew and cantaloupe, especially with a good squeeze of lemon or lime; bananas (use lemon juice to help keep them from turning brown); cucumbers with a bit of jalapeño chile; berries. For chocolate cherry sorbet, skip the sugar, add 4 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate, and use 12 ounces of frozen cherries.
As long as you keep the total volume of solid ingredients to about a pound, the combinations are endless.
1 pound frozen strawberries or other fruit
½ cup yogurt, crème fraîche, or silken tofu
¼ cup sugar, more or less
Water as needed
Put all the ingredients except the water into a food processor, and process until pureed and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the fruit doesn't break down completely, gradually add some water through the feed tube a tablespoon or two at a time, being careful not to overprocess the sorbet into liquid. Serve immediately or freeze. To serve later, just allow 10 to 15 minutes for the sorbet to soften at room temperature.