Grapefruit-Champagne Sorbet

I’m not generally a fan of frozen treats. I have very sensitive teeth and the coldness of ice creams, sorbets, and popsicles is usually rather painful.

There are a few notable exceptions. For some reason frozen custard doesn’t bother me, nor did some of the most amazing pistachio gelato last year in Florence. Perhaps it’s the fat content or the method of churning – I’m unsure.

Then there are frozen treats that are so incredibly delicious that I don’t care if they hurt my teeth, I just eat them slowly and carefully. This sorbet is one of those treats.

It’s like a frozen mimosa exploding in your mouth. Which, to me, sounds like bliss. The recipe is from David Lebovitz’s Perfect Scoop, which is, in my opinion, the definitive recipe book on ice creams and frozen delights.

So far I’ve made a few different things from it. I was pretty “meh” about the Watermelon Sorbetto, but the husband loved it. I adapted the Lemon Sorbet recipe to suit some fresh grapefruits sent lovingly from an aunt in Florida for Christmas, but it was pretty underwhelming – but the husband loved it. In fact, I think he ate the entire batch in about 3 days.

I’ve got a bunch of other recipes on my to-do list: Mojito Granita, Olive Oil Ice Cream, Orange-Szechuan Peppercorn Ice Cream, Rice Ice Cream…

This Grapefruit-Champagne sorbet, however, has rocked my world. The flavor of the wine is prevalent, so be warned. This probably isn’t appropriate for children or non-drinkers. The husband doesn’t drink alcohol, but he found the strong champagne flavor to be “un-offensive,” as he put it. I, on the other hand, want to take the entire container of sorbet, back myself into a corner, and growl at anyone who comes near.

Make this. Then don’t share it with your friends.

Grapefruit-Champagne Sorbet

from The Perfect Scoop

1 1/3 cups Champagne or other sparkling white wine

1 cup sugar

2 ½ cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, heat about half the champagne with the sugar, stirring frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in the remaining champagne and the grapefruit juice.

Chill the mixture thoroughly and freeze it according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

*Notes: I didn’t use a saucepan, I microwaved half the champagne and the sugar in a large glass measuring cup a minute at a time until the sugar dissolved, stirring every 30 seconds. Then I chilled the champagne-sugar mixture, as well as the rest of the wine and the grapefruit juice. I combined them all once chilled and then put it in my ice cream maker. This worked perfectly for me and it seemed a lot easier than using the stovetop. It’s up to you.

key lime tart

It’s not very often that I bat an eye at the dessert menu anymore. I’ve been burned once too often by the lure of a citrus dessert.

Usually in the form of a bar or mini-tart these imposters lurk at buffets, dessert tables and on menus throughout the country. They promise the delicious complexity of the bite of citrus with a pleasing sweetness to counter the acidity. Sweet and sour. Yin and Yang.

With an unfortunate consistency these hopes are dashed at the first bite. Met with a tooth-aching amount of sweetness those once-enticing bites have been beaten with the sugar cane so severely that any hint of complexity has been annihilated.

When I do chance upon a citrus dessert that has achieved that tangy-sweet nirvana I come embarrassingly close to licking the plate. Some people I know can bear witness to just such an event at a small restaurant in North Carolina last year. I remain unashamed.

This tart swings just a little bit farther in the opposite direction. It’s more tangy than sweet and for those of you who appreciate that delicacy called the “Sour Patch Kid,” it is here that you will find a friend.

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Grapefruit Panna Cotta with Candied Kumquats

It almost seems counterintuitive that such a lively crop as citrus would ripen in the cold, dreary winter months. Perhaps it's nature's way of preventing us from all going stir crazy as the blustery cold batters us into a wintry depression - give us just enough sunshine to keep us all happy.

Of those citrus currently available, grapefruit is by far my favorite; something about the play of sweet, sour, and bitter that tantalizes the taste buds.

I first had a grapefruit panna cotta at Passionfish and have since entertained recreating it at home. The flavor infuses perfectly into the rich cream and counters it sufficiently - a satisfying dessert that doesn't weigh too heavily on the stomach after a rich meal. That one was topped with a vanilla citrus sauce, citrus segments, and candied kumquat peels, while I decided to stick with only candied kumquat slices.

Kumquats are another intriguing citrus that defy the stereotype of the typical fruit. Whereas most citrus have sweet flesh and bitter peel and pith, kumquats have pucker-worthy flesh and sugary-sweet peels. Delightful to just pop in the mouth as a sweet-tart treat, they're equally fun to candy and use as a garnish on a variety of dishes.

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Shaker Meyer Lemon Tart

I think one of the most difficult aspects of moving about the country every couple of years is the quick disappearance of regional flavors. I grew up on the West Coast, mostly in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State and then spent the last near-two years on the Central Coast of California. And, just as in other regions of our fair nation, we had our indigenous delicacies and delights that are near impossible to find anywhere else.

One of those particular favorites was the Meyer Lemon. Until I departed the Left Coast I had no idea that Meyer lemons were a largely regional fruit, grown mostly in California. Although, to be fair, there's no such thing as a true Meyer lemon anymore, considering that I was born well after the 1950s I'm not going to gripe too much.

Meyer lemons are milder and sweeter than your typical grocery store Eureka lemon and, sliced thin enough, even the peels are edible.

Here on the East Coast I discovered that Meyer lemons are nigh impossible to find unless one knows a grower personally.

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Lemon-Vanilla Bean & Berry Tarts

No 4th of July BBQ is complete without a tasty dessert, and the combination of lemon French yogurt cake, vanilla bean pastry cream, and fresh berries is hard to beat.

The handy thing about garnishing cute little individual tarts with fresh berries is that they are amazingly beautiful and look like you slaved in the kitchen for hours to complete - which is rarely ever the case. That being said, I'm ever the fan of delicious eats that look impressive and are in actuality so easy a trained chimp could make them.

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