It’s easy to turn fresh apricots into Honey Apricot Vanilla Sorbet or Brown Sugar Almond Apricot Sorbet. And a great way to celebrate National Ice Cream Month!
Honey Apricot Vanilla sorbet and Brown Sugar Almond Apricot sorbet.
Earlier this week I mentioned that I had purchased 27 pounds of very ripe apricots. After eating my fill, my thoughts turned to canning. But after canning enough apricot jam to feed a small army there were still LOTS of apricots left. In this situation I usually turn to making sorbet.
Ok – so I know what you’re thinking, “did she just say “in this situation I usually”?” Hmmm….. that implies that have found myself with too many apricots before. Yes, I must admit that one year I bought 40 pounds of apricots at once. At least some of those were small enough to can as apricot halves. But it is a case of overestimating my ability to process that much fruit at once. Guess I am a slow learner, especially when it comes to apricots.
But it all worked out well because both varieties of this sorbet are tongue-tingling, lip-smacking good. I was inspired by this recipe over on the ever popular Two Peas and Their Pod blog, which was itself inspired by a recipe found in The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. Of course, I did make a few changes, using honey for one variety and muscovado sugar for the other.
What is Muscovado Sugar?
Muscovado sugar is a “true” brown sugar. In other words, it is an unrefined brown sugar with a strong molasses taste. Regular brown sugar is actually refined white sugar with a certain amount of molasses added back in, the amount depending on whether it is light or dark brown sugar. Although muscovado sugar is more expensive than its blander cousin, I prefer it for the depth of flavor it adds to baked goods, frozen treats, and even soups and sauces. In this particular recipe it adds a caramel-like flavor to the apricots.
Preserving Fruit by Making Sorbet
Making sorbet is an excellent way to preserve fresh fruit. I have found that homemade sorbet can last months in the freezer if kept in air-tight containers. You may have to slightly thaw the sorbet after a while and give it a quick beating with an electric mixer before serving, but the flavor remains bright.
- 1½ pounds ripe apricots
- ¾ cup honey
- ¾ cup water
- ⅛ tsp vanilla
- Wash, pit and chop apricots.
- Add water and apricots to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until softened.
- Remove from heat and stir in the honey until combined with the apricot-water mixture.
- Let cool 10-15 minutes.
- Puree mixture in a food processor or blender. Don't worry if small pieces of apricot peel remain, they will add extra tang in the final product!
- Stir in vanilla and cool several hours or overnight.
- Freeze mixture according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
- To make Brown Sugar Almond Apricot Sorbet follow the above directions using ¾ cup of muscovado sugar and ⅛ tsp almond extract instead of the honey and vanilla extract.
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