mango sorbet

mango sorbet

You would think that it being summertime and all, I’d have an easy time tell you about mango sorbet. That’s clearly not happening. Instead of writing about mango sorbet, what I really want to do is just extend spoonfuls of it to all of you and say, “Just try this and then tell me it’s not the most amazing thing on a hot summer day!” But being that the interwebs haven’t quite figured out how to teleport frozen dessert to each of your homes (or any kind of food, really), I am left with mere words. And words, my friends, is what isn’t enough here.

mango sorbet mise

What’s probably fair to say, however, is that there are summer days, such as what we had in New York last weekend, when sorbet is the way to go, when it trumps ice cream. Stay with me here. I can hear the gasps of horror across the information superhighway – to suggest ice cream to play second fiddle! Well, I’ll be!

I promise you, I’m not one to ever dismiss ice cream. Ice cream is very sacred in my book – I’m the kind of girl who’ll be getting ready for bed, get a massive ice cream craving and change back to go outside and meet a friend for a scoop. But there are days when all I want is something cold and refreshing that happens to be not creamy. Sometimes, dairy is just a bit too much and I reach for sorbet.

mango sorbet

When I first picked up a copy of The Perfect Scoop, this mango sorbet was the first thing I book-marked. But I quickly got distracted by watermelon sorbet and frozen yogurt (Pinkberry who???) and then of course marrying vanilla with black pepper. A couple of weeks ago when I was devising a menu for one of my Sunday suppers, I saw a clear mango theme emerge and that’s when I remembered the recipe that started it all. I don’t need to tell you that David’s recipes are tried and true and are absolutely amazing – if you don’t have this book of his and you’ve been curious about making ice cream, this is a must-have.

mango sorbet

Look, this time I don’t have a fancy story for you – no ancient memory from my childhood. In Russia, we didn’t have mangos. In fact, we didn’t even have sorbet. Sherbert – yes, but sorbet is a beast unto itself. And so, because I spent the first eleven years of my life deprived of mangos and sorbet, I would think that I have to make up for a lot of lost time. Ice cream maker – get ready, we’re going to make beautiful music sorbet together!

mango sorbet

In fact, as I was writing this last night, I kept running over to the kitchen and sneaking little spoons of sorbet as a snack, hoping, in vain, that having a few spoonfuls will inspire me to write something poetic, something that will galvanize you at once to run over to your local grocer, get two ripe mangoes, and charge forth into your kitchens intent on making sorbet. Or else. I am, however, left with just mere words. Words that aren’t nearly as delicious as this frozen goodness here. You could, of course, try to lick the screen. Let me know how that works out for ya.

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Mango Sorbet
Adapted, barely because why mess with perfection, from The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients:
2 large, ripe mangoes (2 lbs, 1 kg)
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) water
5 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
1 tbsp dark rum, plus more to taste
pinch of salt

Preparation:

Wash and peel the mangoes and cut away the flesh from the pit (a vegetable peeler will work well). Cut the the mango flesh into chunks and place them in a blender (or a food process, in my case) with the sugar, water, lime juice, rum and salt. You might want to squeeze the pits over the procfessor to get as much of the pulp and juice as you can. Be careful though, as mango pits are slipper little guys!

Puree the mango mixture until it is smooth. Taste and add more lime juice and/or rum if you like.

Chill the mixture, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As far as chilling time goes, I found 2 hours were adequate for me.

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