Concept: Don't Call Me Shirley! Sorbet

I have been sitting here, all morning, pouting because I want to make ice cream. Needless to say, this desire has struck the day before payday when I am unable to galavant and find interesting ingredients. So I do what every ice cream making fiend does- I rummage! What do you do when life gives you lime juice, grenadine, and cherries? Make Shirley Temples of course! And dollface, you are the inspiration for today's ice cream adventure.

Non-traditional (aka fruitless) sorbets are quite difficult because you are basically manipulating sugar water to not taste like...well...sugar water. These NTS are usually best accomplished if you are working with a concept that will not be achieved by adding dairy. Teas, extracts, herbs, and spices are usually what work best with the NTS but can also wind up being terrible.

I currently would much rather be playing around with the reactions of non-dairy yogurts in ice cream, but alas, that will have to wait. For now, it's Temple-Time.

Don't Call Me Shirley! Sorbet

2 1/2c. water

1c. sugar

1/4c. lime juice

2T. grenadine

2T. liquid from maraschino cherries

cherries for garnish.

Dissolve sugar in water over heat. Add lime juice, grenadine, and cherry liquid. Cool & Churn. Freeze until firm and serve with cherries as garnish.

All in all, it's a summer treat that's fun for kids. It's a cool twist on a favorite drink that can be served as a scoop on a cone or in a glass filled with lemon-lime soda. If you're looking for simple-stick with a regular Shirley Temple, but if you want to have some fun with it this is for you. Please keep in mind that there is no nutritional benefit to this NTS or to Shirley Temples in general- Grenadine, Soda, and Maraschino Cherries are literally all sugar. Please be sure to limit how many Shirley's your kiddo has, especially if they are still losing teeth- don't want to rot them out before they have a chance to grow!

Coconut "Key" Lime

I'm pretty sure that this is my first Alchemy post I have made since getting my new macbook! Woohoo! No more angry posts because my stupid laptop died, or Blogger didn't autosave because my compy is so old that it can't run the most efficient internet. It's time to celebrate! Double celebrate in fact because it's 4th of July weekend! And no one says "independence" quite like Will Smith!

Or, for that matter, Key Lime Pie! I decided to attempt making this delicious summer-time dessert into a dairy-free ice cream. I approached it with two concepts in mind:

1) a scoopable ice cream

2) a frozen "torte" of sorts

So I did both. The scoopable ice cream was okay. I wish the graham cracker would have been chunkier, but instead it kind of speckled the ice cream. The torte, however, was amazing. I loved the consistency and I felt that it was a very good representation of the real deal.

Now onto the composition. I originally wondered how well coconut milk would do for the milk base...and then I remembered...

Of COURSE they go together! I also wished there were a whipped cream substitute (without being whipped soy cream) which is why I came up with the coconut glaze. I feel like the original base was just barely too icy, so I revised the recipe and cut out some of the water. The recipe below is the altered version, so you should not need to make any changes.

Coconut "Key" Lime

1c. canned coconut milk

1 1/2c. water

2/3c. key lime juice (fresh is best, but bottled with do)

1c. sugar

1 drop green food color (optional)

graham cracker crust mix (click for recipe)

Combine everything except the crust mix. Churn in ice cream maker until desired consistency.

For scoopable ice cream: Turn off machine, and fold in crust mix. Transfer to freezer-safe container and freeze until hard.

For torte: Line a small cake pan with parchment paper. While base is churning, press the crust into the bottom of the cake pan. Make sure to cover it completely. Once ice cream is finished churning, spread evenly into the pan. Cover with plastic and freeze overnight. Before serving, remove plastic and carefully run a knife around the edge between the ice cream and the pan. Flip onto a piece of plastic and give the bottom one nice "knock" (firm...but pound sounded too harsh). This should release the ice cream from the pan. Carefully peel the parchment from the crust. Cut into pieces and serve

For Coconut Icing: Take 1c. of canned coconut milk and mix with 1c. confectioner's sugar. Whisk until smooth. Icing should be thick. Drizzle over ice cream or slice of torte before serving. Garnish with toasted coconut or lime supremes if desired.

Inspiration: Cucumber Mint Icy

With, what feels like, an early summer in our midst, I have been drowning in a sea of iced treat inspiration. I have been wanting to try this one out for awhile because I feel like cucumber and mint are both rather refreshing, cool-you-down ingredients.

I didn't want this to be an ice cream or a sorbet so I played with a few different options; the mold, the Popsicle, and the granita. All three used the same recipe, the only difference was the way it was presented. I call this an "icy" because I was aiming for the crystallized texture that I usually hate having in my other recipes. While I think this flavor combination would work well as a smooth sorbet, when I first came up with the idea I imagined it as a cold, crystallized treat that would take significantly longer to thaw in the summer heat.

Cucumber Mint Icy

4 cucumbers
3 sprigs of fresh mint
4 T agave nectar
1 t tequila

Peel the cucumbers (if desired, reserve a few strips of the skin for garnish). Cut peeled cucumbers in half - the long way - and scoop/discard the seeds using a spoon. Cut into chunks and blend until there are no chunks. Strain the mixture completely (there will still be some pulp on the bottom of the strainer- this is fine to use...you just want to break up the bigger chunks). Chiffonade the mint leaves and add to cucumber liquid. Mix in agave and tequila.




For Popsicle: Add to Popsicle mold and freeze - Don't forget the sticks!
For Mold: Pour mixture into desired mold and freeze...be sure to let it freeze long enough for the middle to be solid!
For Granita: Pour into freezer-proof bowl and freeze. Agitate mixture with a fork approximately every 10 minutes until ice crystals are firm.

Garnish: Julienne strips of cucumber skin and stick in bowl of ice water until they begin to curl. Toss in sugar and place on top of icy!


If you would prefer a sorbet to the harsh iciness of the icy just add another 1/4c. of agave, another 1/2 teaspoon of tequila, and churn in an ice cream maker.