Cheap fruity sorbets and ices?

June 27, 2007 7:44 PM

What are your suggestions for ice cream makers, fruit sorbet recipes, and Italian ices?

I am a huge fan of fruit-flavored sorbets (like Sharon's) and Italian ices (like Luigi's). I must spend like $6/week on the stuff. Ideally, I'd like to continue with this, but I am moving to a new area soon where I don't know how available these treats may be. More importantly, I will be on a student's budget and thus somewhat lacking in funds.

My idea is to buy an ice cream/sorbet/italian ice maker and then make it myself. Would this actually be cheaper though? What is the best machine in the under $50 category, in your experience?

Also, I'd love to query the MeFi hive mind as to their favorite sorbet and Italian ice recipes. I prefer fruits (especially berries!), but am open to suggestions. Ice cream recipes may apply only if they are awesome.

posted by i less than three nsima to food & drink (14 comments total)

I received The Perfect Scoop as a birthday gift. By received as a gift, I mean I said "I want this book, stop trying to guess what I like." Lebovitz is a great writer and this book is great. I'm having a great time going through the recipes and making your own treats is so much fun. It really doesn't take much money to buy fruit and sugar to make granitas and sorbets.

I got my ice cream maker off of ebay and it wasn't creepy in the least.
posted by spec80 at 8:36 PM on June 27, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I own this ice-cream maker - no ice, no salt, no problem. It's simply awesome.
posted by bradth27 at 8:45 PM on June 27, 2007

Go to a Mideast or South Asian grocery, and look for the big cans of "Mango Pulp". You can pour this directly into an ice cream maker and make sorbet. Additions like honey, a dash of liqueur or other flavorings optional. Easy and delicious.

For a sophisticated Italian ice:

Clean a pound of strawberries and blend with 1/4 cup of sugar, a tablespoon of melted red currant jelly, and a tablespoon of Campari. Freeze in an ice cream maker. Enjoy.
posted by gimonca at 9:13 PM on June 27, 2007

I have the basic Cuisinart model. Cheap and easy. The basic recipe is simple syrup + fruit, and with amazing fresh summer fruit, everything tastes good. I also generally keep a batch of ginger sorbet in the freezer for mixed drinks.
posted by judith at 9:50 PM on June 27, 2007

What is the best machine in the under $50 category, in your experience?

Alton Brown is a fan of this one.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:26 PM on June 27, 2007

I had the Cuisinart for a while (pretty much the same thing as the other $40 machines, like the Krups) and ended up giving it away to save space. I disliked using it because the scraper blade never scraped close enough to the ultra-cold sides of the freezer, and after churning for 5 or 10 minutes, there would be a 1-cm layer of hard-frozen product stuck to the container. It was hard to scrape off and just made the whole process generally unpleasant.

My next ice cream maker will be this one.
posted by rxrfrx at 11:42 PM on June 27, 2007

I was going to link you to Alton Brown's suggestion (seriously that guy is the man) , but it seems that Cool Papa Bell beat me to it.

In that same vein, though, i've made AB's Pepper mango sorbet (no need for the pepper vodka, regular vodka works just fine.), and it's killer. Then again, I really like pepper.

Also, a tangential thought: ever made or had a granita? I bet you'd like it.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:30 AM on June 28, 2007

I'm not sure what your definition of Italian Ice is; the ones I remember from Chicago were similar to gelato (IIRC).
posted by romakimmy at 1:54 AM on June 28, 2007

I believe Jeffrey Steingarten (the wikipedia source for the granita link) describes how to make granita without a machine in his book "The Man Who Ate Everything".

A quick google on "make sorbet by hand" gives directions to make granita or sorbet. You can use a food processor or blender to puree the ingredients, then freeze, break into chunks and return to the blender or food processor.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:06 AM on June 28, 2007

Here's how to make sorbet - you need four ingredients and a couple tools:

sugar
water
fruit
lemon

The day before:
Make a simple syrup using equal parts of water and sugar (ie, 2C water, 2C sugar, bring just to a boil) and put it the fridge.

Take your fruit and cut it into smallish chunks and cook in a non-reactive pan with a little water and a light sprinkling of sugar. Blend and pour through a sieve, then put in the fridge - maybe add some lemon to preserve color.

Right before making your sorbet, add syrup to fruit and taste for sweetness. Add lemon juice to adjust for tart. Freeze as per manufacturer's instructions.

Try making blueberry sorbet - fantastic - use lots of lemon and maybe a pinch of cinnamon.

Try making kiwi sorbet and be in awe at the nuclear waste shade of green you get.

Cranberry sorbet is terrific, especially if you drop a nice lump of it into a flute of dry champagne.
posted by plinth at 5:12 AM on June 28, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I would like to second "The Perfect Scoop." Sadly, I just returned it to the library, and will be buying it at the next bookstore that I go to. So many recipes that we want to try!

We received the standard Cuisinart as a holiday gift a few years ago, and don't use it enough. My only complaint with it is that we often forget to put the freezer portion in with enough time prior for it to be cold enough. It's frustrating to say "hey, let's make ice cream" and then have to wait on a part to freeze. But that's totally our dysfunction, not the machine.
posted by librarianamy at 5:20 AM on June 28, 2007

Nsima, make me some pina colado and airship it to Thyolo.
posted by bluenausea at 7:26 AM on June 28, 2007

Nthing the Cuisinart ice cream maker linked above by bradth27. I thought this would be a white elephant appliance when I bought it for the SO as a gift, but it has turned out to be source of constant joy.
posted by Work to Live at 8:43 AM on June 28, 2007

I haven't used it, but there's an ice cream maker attachment for the kitchenaid mixer.
posted by electroboy at 9:31 AM on June 28, 2007