Coconut Chip Sorbet

There is a finally a chill in the air in New Orleans, and I love it.  Fall is my favorite season.  I can take walks outside without breaking a sweat and the air is crisp and refreshing.  Festivals are popping up all around town now that the weather is breaking and there is a tingle of celebration in the air. 

Speaking of celebrating, congratulations to Lisa of skullsandbacon.blogspot.com who has won the FREE Bacon contest!  The contest was featured last week on my post about Praline Bacon Ice Cream.  Lisa will receive 10 pounds of free bacon and a Bacon gladiator apron courtesy of Hormel. Given that she has a website partially dedicated to bacon, I am sure she will put the bacon to good use!  Congrats, Lisa!

Despite the dropping temperatures, I am still in the mood for frozen desserts.  As fall creeps in, menus will change to feature heavier comfort foods.  In my own kitchen I am already preparing these types of dishes, so I opted to make a lighter dessert.  I used coconut milk in this recipe to provide a creamier texture than typical sorbets.

Now you may be asking yourself the question, if I use a type of milk to make this dessert, isn't it ice cream?  This is a debate that often arises among dessert makers.  A few months ago fellow ice cream makers Jessica from Frozen Fix and Bao from Triple Scoop Desserts and I had a friendly conversation about this subject on Twitter.  The consensus?  Coconut milk, although creamy and called milk, is really the juice of a coconut and thus does not contain dairy and makes a sorbet.  One bite of this coconut chip sorbet and you will agree.  Although it is creamier than other sorbets, it is lighter than ice cream and still has a refreshing consistency. Enjoy!

Coconut Chip Sorbet

The recipe for this scoop is surprisingly simple.  Make sure to use full fat coconut milk because the light coconut milk will result in a sorbet that is too icey (at least for my taste).  Also, adjust the rum according to your tastes - adding 1 Tablespoon will help improve consistency while adding 2 Tablespoons will leave the taste of rum on your tongue.

2 15 ounce cans coconut milk, chilled
3/4 cup simple syrup*
1 to 2 Tablespoons dark rum
2.5 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Combine coconut milk and simple syrup in a medium bowl.  Add rum and whisk to combine.  If the mixture is not fully chilled, place it in the refrigerator until it is chilled through. Once chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  When sorbet is near completion of churning, add chocolate and continue churning until well combined.  Transfer sorbet to a container, place plastic or parchment over sorbet (to prevent ice crystals) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. 

*To make simple syrup, combine equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.  Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Cool completely before using in sorbet.  Make as much as you want and store leftovers at room temperature.

Comments

[Jessica]

Yum! Rum sounds like a nice touch too.