Day 119 - Watermelon Sorbet

Adinah was kind enough to take me on a Fairway Harlem run last week, and I took advantage of the door to door service by buying a whole seedless watermelon! Now, who doesn't love watermelon? And even though I could practically eat the whole thing in one sitting, I made sure to put some aside for...

Watermelon Sorbet (p. 482)

This recipe is the mother of all the sorbet recipes in the book. That is, Martha spells this one out in its entirety and then provides us with a spreadsheet with the guidelines for the other fruits.

Because watermelon is so watery, it's a really easy to fruit to sorbet-ize. Because the puree is so thin, I knew the egg test could be used. After adding 1 cup of syrup, the sugar balance tasted right, but the egg gave me only a dime-sized float. I added another 1/4 cup of syrup, expanding the float to a nickle-size, but then it tasted so sweet that I really couldn't bear to add any more. So I didn't.

The sorbet tastes OK. The texture is OK. And I have to say, I'm disappointed.

I'm developing a theory about sorbet. I believe that there are certain fruits whose flavor lends itself to being sorbet-ized, and there are other fruits whose flavor doesn't. Successful sorbets in my experience? Strawberry, lemon, pineapple. Unsuccessful sorbets? Mango (although that's another story), blueberry, watermelon. The first three completely changed my attitude about sorbet, from "who cares?" to "bring it on!" The latter three left me cold (no pun intended), tasting more like sugar than fruit.

I wonder if it has to do with the acidity of the fruit involved. Hmmmm...

Jeff: A
Martha: A


Until we eat again....