I’ll never forget the day Adam Welly at Wayward Seed Farm cut open his favorite variety of watermelon for me to try. A bunch of folks from our kitchen and I were at the farm one Saturday, picking huckleberries for a winter jam to use in one of our holiday flavors. As Adam hacked into the sun-bloated melon with a large soil-crusted machete, its juice streamed out everywhere. The warm melon tasted of sunburned cheeks, warm sidewalks, and sunshine and all the summertime memories of my childhood. We made lemonade watermelon sorbet as soon as we returned to the kitchen.
This sorbet is perfect on a hot summer day, and we like to toss a few black watermelon seeds back in for fun. Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients:
1 small to medium watermelon, preferably with black seeds
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light com syrup
Instructions:
Cut enough watermelon flesh into 2-inch cubes to make about 4 cups. Remove the seeds (reserve a few black ones to add to the sorbet if you want). Puree the melon in a food processor. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of puree and transfer to a medium bowl. Reserve the rest of the watermelon for another use. Measure out the remaining ingredients.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
Combine the lemon juice, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.
Whisk the lemon syrup into the pureed watermelon. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
Pour the sorbet base into the frozen canister and spin just until it is the consistency of very softly whipped cream.
Pack the sorbet into a storage container, tossing in a few black watermelon seeds if you’ve got them. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
Pairs well with: Drinks! Sparkling rose or Prosecco in a watermelon sangria. Or, for a watermelon cocktail: a few scoops of sorbet in a tall glass with a shot of Grey Goose vodka and a couple of drops of rose water.
Read more: Learn how to make frozen desserts for the summer, including ice cream, sorbet and more, in Discover the Many Delicious Types of Frozen Desserts.
Photo By Fotolia/laperla_777
This Lemonade Watermelon Sorbet Recipe was reprinted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Homeby Jeni Britton Bauer, published by Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing, 2013.