Cooking Cove: Frozen desserts to cool your palate

Cooking Cove: Frozen desserts to cool your palate

Lime Sherbet

By Barbara Beltrami

When the iceman doesn’t cometh and neither does the ice cream man much, if at all, then we’re left to our own devices to come up with frozen desserts to cool our palates. There is, of course, ice cream, sherbet (made with milk) and sorbet (made with a simple sugar-water syrup) and frozen yogurt. And then from the Italians, there is granita which is a flavored ice composed of tiny crystals, a semifreddo, which means half-frozen (don’t ask me why because it’s completely frozen); gelato is their version of ice cream and an affogato is nothing more than a scoop of gelato or ice cream doused with hot espresso.

Lime Sherbet

Lime Sherbet

YIELD: Makes eight 1/2-cup servings.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups whole milk

1 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

3 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pour into freezer bowl of electric ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve with vanilla wafers.

Grapefruit Sorbet

YIELD: Makes eight 1/2-cup servings.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice

1 tablespoon finely grated grapefruit zest

DIRECTIONS:

In medium saucepan combine sugar and water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Cool completely, then add grapefruit juice and zest, and stir to combine. Pour into freezer bowl of electric ice cream maker and proceed according to manufacturer’s directions.

Nectarine-Amaretto Ice Cream

YIELD: Makes 2 quarts

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds ripe nectarines, peeled, pitted and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup crumbled amaretti cookies

3 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur

6 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups very cold heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl toss nectarines with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice; let stand 30 minutes. Drain nectarines and puree in food processor. In a medium saucepan combine remaining 3/4 cup sugar with the 1/4 cup water and simmer till mixture turns a pale golden caramel. Carefully and gently add the half cup boiling water and simmer, stirring constantly, until caramel dissolves. In a small bowl sprinkle the amaretti cookies with the Amaretto liqueur and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

In a large mixer bowl beat egg yolks until thick and pale, add syrup in a stream while beating; beat until mixture is cool. Stir in extracts, peach puree, cookie mixture and cream. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve with sliced fresh nectarines.

Chocolate Semifreddo

YIELD: Makes 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups very cold heavy cream

1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate grated

6 egg whites

Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Whip the cream; before it stiffens while it is still liquid but thick, add the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time and continue whipping. When the cream is stiff enough to form peaks, thoroughly mix in the grated chocolate. Beat the egg whites until stiff; fold them into the cream and chocolate mixture. Line a 1 1/2 to 2 quart loaf pan with wax paper (let it extend beyond the edges) and pour the mixture into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.

When ready to serve, remove from freezer and let sit 5 minutes. Unmold over a flat platter and slice. Garnish with mint and serve with delicate chocolate cookies.