Summer Treats

I have an ice cream maker.  It's the kind with a compressor that does not require freezing the container.  I think I've used this ice cream maker twice in the three or four years that I have owned it.  It's been one of my forgotten kitchen gadgets ... that is, until today.

I bought a whole seedless watermelon, which I cut up on Friday evening to take on a trip yesterday to tour five wineries in Southwest Michigan with some girlfriends.  Unfortunately, we did not eat the watermelon on the trip.  That means I have an entire watermelon waiting to be eaten and my sons do not eat watermelon.  So, I decided to make sorbet with some of it.  I mean, really, I've had the ice cream maker long enough.  I need to start using it.

I chose a recipe by Alton Brown.  I couldn't find the written recipe, so I used the recipe shown on the video.  You can find the video here. The reason I chose this recipe is because I did not have to strain the watermelon after liquifying it in the food processor.  Plus, it has a little lemon juice and vodka (very little) in it.  Next time I make it, I'll add some lemon zest to the mixture before freezing it.  I think it would be much better with a more pronounced lemon flavor.

Here is the list of ingredients.

Watermelon Sorbet

1 lb. 5 oz. seedless watermelon
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons vodka
9 oz. sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (what I'll be adding next time)

After mixing all of that in my food processor (using the metal S blade) until the sugar dissolved, I refrigerated it for about 3 hours, which is one hour longer than I needed to.  I poured the mixture into my ice cream maker and initially set the time for 40 minutes, but ended up letting it run for 50 minutes.  It's in the freezer now to firm up a little more.

This is definitely the first of many adventures I plan on having with the ice cream maker.  Now that I'm using it again, I will be making ice cream with almond or coconut milk or coconut milk creamer this summer.  I just bought some Newman's O creme-filled chocolate cookies, so I can make Cookies and Creme Ice Cream.  I'll be making that this week.  My sons will definitely eat that frosty dessert.