RCP: Apricot and Cardamom Sherbet

My experience with apricots is that they are an "all-or-nothing" crop. Either you never get good ones or you get a whole $hitload (in the Kansas vernacular) for the short time they're ripe. If you're lucky enough to be one of those with a tree of your own or with access to good fresh apricots, then this is an alternative to making jam or making yourself sick by just eating them all. It's based on a recipe from the book Ices, The Definitive Guide by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir. I made it after getting more apricots than I could comfortably eat in a CSA basket. It comes out as a classic sherbet, with tons of fresh fruit flavor, low butterfat, and a consistency that neatly splits the difference between ice cream and sorbet.

1 lb apricots (or more), halved and pitted.
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
3 cardamom pods
1 c. whole milk, chilled
1 pinch salt
1/2 lemon
1 egg white

Put the water and sugar in a 1 qt. saucepan and warm to the point that the sugar dissolves. Add the apricots. (Use at least one pound, but cram more in there if you have them. I threw the pits in the last time I made this but I'm not sure they made a difference.) Bring to a boil and then simmer until the apricots are soft (which will be a very short time if they're ripe). Take them off the heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes. remove the cardamom pods (and the apricot pits if you left them in there). Dump the mixture in a blender and puree. If the mixture seems fibrous, then sieve it (I haven't had to do this). Stir in the milk and salt and transfer to a mixing bowl that's placed in an ice bath. Chill it down until it's around room temperature. Transfer to an ice cream freezer and start the freezing process as per directions. When it's just starting to firm up, use a fork to whip up the egg white and then pour the egg white into the ice cream freezer. Continue to freeze until it's firmed up.

Thanks for posting this, Mike. I adore apricots and we have several trees at my workplace and one at home. This is on my list! Yum!

Dear Mike,

Funny you should mention this, my wife got a jones for jam this weekend and we discussed making an apricot and cardamom preserve. We decided against it because we weren't sure that the cardamom flavor would have been sympathetic to toast, etc. But a sorbet sounds perfect! Too bad we're down from 6 lbs. to two lonely 'cots in the fruit drawer, or I would make this.

I think you're absolutely right about the fickleness of apricots. Some years I can sniff every apricot at the market every week for a whole season and not get a decent one. And sometimes (like this year) we get good to very good specimens for a month or more. And of course when they're good, they're also on sale, 6 lbs. for $4! They were rotting right before our eyes...

You might want to reconsider boiling apricot pits. You could produce small but non-trivial amounts of hydrogen cyanide. Luckily you would almost certainly pass out long before death, but it only takes a tenth of a gram.

Walt

Walt -

Y'know, I thought about the pit thing and decided to go ahead with it anyway. It was an experiment based somewhat on the almond-y flavors that the pits apparently add to liqueurs. I didn't get any almond flavor in the sherbet, but I'd have to do an identical batch without them to see if they really made a difference or not.

I did make sure the room was well-ventilated during the process, though!


Mike