Tangerine Sorbet

Sometimes you need a light little dessert OR something really sunny and citrusy (there seems to be a theme going on here...). Might I suggest a tangerine sorbet?

This may be just what you want- it's just the kind of thing I want now that spring is here. Not that the weather reflects this at the moment...

It's is great served with crumbly shortbread or lacy and crispy tuiles.

If you have an ice cream maker, great- definitely use it (it will take less time and attention this way). If you do not happen to have an ice cream maker, you could pour the sorbet base into a 9x13 inch pan, place in the freezer and stir every 20 minutes or so until it's the right (slushy/sorbet-y) consistency, pour into a container and stir in the rum. The purpose of the rum is to make sure the sorbet does not freeze rock hard!

This recipe comes from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. It was suggested by a very Italian boss of mine once upon a time and it's frequently a go-to for Italian recipes over here.

Tangerine Sorbet

1 c sugar

Zest of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon (without digging into the white pith)

Freshly squeezed juice of 2 large or 4 small tangerines

Juice of large or 2 small oranges

Juice of 1 lemon

1 egg white

3 T rum

Place sugar and 1 c water in saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and stir from time to time until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the syrup into a bowl.

Add zests as well as tangerine, orange, and lemon juices. Mix well with the syrup and allow mixture to become completely cold.

Lightly beat the egg white until frothy, and stir into juice mixture.

Pour mixture into ice cream freezer and freeze per manufacturer's instructions. When done, transfer to container with a tight seal, stir in the rum, distributing it thoroughly. Close the container and freeze at least an hour (or even longer).

When ready to serve, you can place scoops in hollowed and frozen tangerine shells.

Slice off the tops of tangerines, scoop out the segments (you can use them for the tangerine juice in the recipe), and freeze at least an hour.

I happened to use some really tiny clementines for tangerine juice- they're great, but gave me very small shells to serve the sorbet in (not that you must serve it in them...)

If you do want to use the shells, freeze them after you've cleaned them so they're ready when you want to serve the sorbet.