Pomegranates, sorbet and sherbet! Oh my!

‘Oh my’ is right. I had hoped to write my second post this past weekend, but by the time I was done cooking and cleaning up, cooking and cleaning up again, and taking and reviewing tons of photos, it was past 11:00 on Sunday night and time for bed. And yesterday, being a very long Monday, was just not a good day to be cheerful and blog. Still, I’m not terribly disappointed to be posting this on a Tuesday (ok, Wednesday morning). I figure since it’s a bit of a double feature, I can cut myself some slack.

Look at those seeds!

When my boyfriend and I first spied and sampled the pomegranates at our farmer’s market several weeks ago there was no question about buying one. I, having not been thoroughly exposed to pomegranates in my younger days, reported to my Dad how ‘exciting’ it was to have bought one. ‘That’s not exciting,’ was the quick reply from my boyfriend, but I just don’t see how that can be so.

Even now that I’m used to the pomegranate’s tart, crunchy, red seeds, I’m still amazed each time I open one, and removing those seeds is still a pleasure rather than a chore. I suppose my pomegranate wonder might wear off someday but I’m a food nerd and I still marvel when I see egg whites beaten and transformed into meringue, so there probably isn’t much hope for me.

But how does a girl transform these beauteous seeds into a fantastic dessert? Being in a chocolate-craving state of mind I decided to try coating some of the seeds in chocolate, and having recently bought a large bottle of Pom Wonderful juice (yes, we’re pomegranate crazy right now) I decided a simple sorbet would go well under those coated seeds.

Where's my spoon?

Sadly, the seeds didn’t work out so well. Despite gently blotting with paper towels to dry them as much as possible, I couldn’t prevent the chocolate from seizing when it came in contact with the little arils, and in hindsight I don’t know why I’d ever want to cover up those beautiful seeds in the first place. (It’s amazing how chocolate can affect one’s judgment.)

I still managed to get some chocolate to accompany my sorbet however, in the form of a chocolate balsamic sauce on top and a little chocolate shortbread cookie on the side.

The cookie recipe is a veganized version of the Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs and Sea Salt recipe from the The Essence of Chocolate, and the balsamic sauce is my own, but I think it needs a bit more work, so the recipe isn’t included here. However the sorbet recipe follows below and I like to think that it’s quite nice. If you like Pom juice and you like sorbet, it’s a good marriage of the two that is easier than easy to make and will produce a nice little pucker on your lips. The brilliant purple color isn’t bad on the eyes either.

mmm, creamy goodness

And I didn’t stop there. I’m just really a fan of creaminess more than iciness and since sorbet is so easily melted down and messed with, I decided to transform my sorbet into some ice cream. It’s sherbet technically speaking because of the low fat content, but I find it creamy enough to satisfy an ice cream lover’s needs and the taste is extraordinary. The simple addition of soy milk created a balance so pleasing that I’m sure to make this again and again. No more puckering; just yummy, creamy, fruity goodness.

Pomegranate Sorbet

3 cups pomegranate juice, divided

2 T sugar, divided, or more or less to taste

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Pomegranate seeds to garnish

1. Bring 1 cup of pomegranate juice and 1 T sugar to a boil and simmer until reduced by half.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients (add more or less sugar as you see fit) and refrigerate for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.
3. Churn in ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions.
4. Serve with seeds and some form of chocolate.

Pomegranate Sherbet

1 and 1/2 cups Pomegranate Sorbet mixture, melted or pre-frozen*

1 cup soy milk (I used vanilla flavored Silk)

1 T Arrowroot mixed with 2 T soy milk to form a slurry

1/2 to 3/4 pomegranate seeds (optional)

1. Bring Pomegranate Sorbet mixture and 1 cup soy milk to a boil.
2. Add the slurry to the pomegranate mixture, remove from heat and stir for a minute or two. (I also added a tiny drop of pink food coloring at this point since the soy milk dulls the color of the juice.)
3. Refrigerate for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Churn in ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. (I added the seeds to the mix just a minute or two before the churning was complete. Freezing doesn’t make them too hard and they give the sherbet a  nice look and a good crunch.)

* I realize the sorbet recipe makes double this amount, however my boyfriend and I already ate half of it by the time I decided to melt the rest and make sherbet. I didn’t want to post a double recipe without having tried it, just in case doing so throws something out of whack, but I’ll be sure to post an update when I make it again.

also makes good sandwiches