Thursday, May 23, 2013

Moving...

I’ll be blogging at The Decisive Cook. I hope you’ll follow me! Stop by and say hi.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Double Chocolate Sorbet

A cooking extravaganza took place in my kitchen last weekend. I enjoyed every minute of it... well, almost every minute. I’m not a big fan of the clean-up aspect of creating a large meal.

Our friends and neighbors, Pete, Joey and Alice, were our dinner guests on Saturday night. Alice is almost two, and having her at our dinner table was a delight. It brought back so many memories of when my daughter was that age. Even though I did not make specific kid food for her, she ate everything with gusto, including basil pesto, panko-crusted salmon, even a bit of the baby greens salad with goat cheese and cranberries. 

It was a warm day, around 85 degrees, which in Portland in May, is unusual, and downright hot! Some kind of frozen dessert was in order, so I chose a chocolate sorbet. My husband also requested his new favorite lemon pie, so I whipped up one of those too.

Do you love chocolate? Do you have an ice cream maker? Yes? Then you need to make this incredibly chocolatey sorbet right away. If you love chocolate, but do not have an ice cream maker, you will need to buy one or borrow one from a friend. This dessert requires this tool to create the proper consistency. Any inexpensive ice cream maker will do.


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This dessert is exclusively for chocolate lovers. The only thing you’ll taste when you bite into it is chocolate. But, hey, it is light in caloric content (unless you eat the whole quart), and it’s gluten-free!


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Double Chocolate Sorbet
Makes 1 small quart
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

PRINTABLE RECIPE


2 1/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk let the mixture boil for about 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it’s melted. Then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup of water. Chill the mixture thoroughly. I covered it and placed it in the fridge for the night. Then place the chilled mix into your ice cream maker, and run it for about 25 minutes. Remove from the ice cream maker and place it into a sealed container. Freeze for 4-6 hours before serving.



When this dessert was placed in front of our youngest guest (topped with a colorful macaron and a dollop of whipped cream), her one word says it all: “Wow!”