Looking back over the years, I realized that I never had a fascination with ice cream. This might not seem strange to you until you understand how obsessed my entire family is with it. Dessert, throughout my childhood, would more often than not be ice cream based. For my grandparents, the way to make their day was to get a block of ice cream that was to be eaten after dinner. A treat would mean a trip to Baskin Robbins (it used to be a super special outing back in the day). Sunday would not be complete without a visit to the “ice cream shop.” And my sister would keep trying her hand at kulfi (the Indian version of ice cream).
On my part, I would be more than content to eat “orangestick” (a kind of orange ice based popsicle) from the ice cream cart outside school. I remember my mother constantly yelling at me to stop eating plain ice cubes. So mainly, I was always more or less an ice cube rather than an ice cream kinda gal.
This watermelon lime sorbet is actually more for those people – the ones who like the ice more than the ice cream and who do not get dozens of flavors to choose from. This recipe is adapted from the wonderfully simple yet awe inspiring The Flavor Thesaurus. No, you do
not need an ice cream machine for this and yes, it is more ice than smooth creaminess. But who can resist that gorgeous pink colour?
Watermelon Lime Sorbet Adapted from the Flavor Thesaurus
Ingredients:
200 gms sugar
250 ml water
250 ml watermelon juice
Juice of 4 limes
Several sticks of cinnamon
1 tbsp vodka (optional)
Method:
1. Make a syrup by gently heating the sugar with the cinnamon and water until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and then cool.
2. Keep in the fridge until the cinnamon has imparted a strong flavor to the syrup. Strain.
3. Add the lime and watermelon juice to the syrup. Chill until very cold.
4. If you have an ice cream maker, freeze according to the manual’s instructions.
5. If you do not, add the vodka to the mix and put it in the freezer. The vodka helps in breaking up the ice crystals. Every one hour, take it out and give it a thorough beating with a hand mixer until the ice crystals break up. Do this at least 3 times.
6. Without the ice cream maker, the sorbet will not be very smooth in texture but as I
explained, that’s the way I like it!
