It’s been such an obscenely hot summer I’ve been looking for lots of ways to cool off. I posted Strawberry Sorbet and my Lemon (or Lemon Thyme) Buttermilk Popsicles, and I’m at it again – Cracked Black Pepper Honeydew Sorbet. Yeah, this is another of weird flavor combination but it really works – the flecks of pepper dance off your tongue and give interest to the sweet, fruity honeydew flavor.
Cracked Black Pepper Honey Dew Sorbet
This sorbet is extremely low in added sugar and freezes hard, so leave it out for about 20 to 25 minutes before you plan on serving and don’t expect creamy perfection. If it crumbles, leave it a few more minutes. Rinsing your ice cream scoop with very hot water helps, too. (If you would like it creamier, more sugar or a little alcohol will help, see “Put Your Own Spin on It,” below.)
Now, usually with recipes, I try to be exact, but although this Sorbet is super easy, it’s been hard for me to figure out the “perfect” amount for an ice cream freezer without getting overly fussy with scales and weighing. The sizes of the honeydew vary, so you’ll need a smallish honeydew, and plan to have a few dixie cups or popsicle molds on hand in case there is any extra slush that won’t fit in your ice-cream maker.
Mine made 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream and about six popsicles, so I’m counting it as 12 servings for the nutritional values – each serving of sorbet as about 2 scoops.
Yet another way to serve – and probably my favorite: A scoop or two of the Cracked Black Pepper and Honeydew Sorbet in a glass with clear pop (it’s a Minnesota thing – maybe I should have said soda) or club soda – marvelous on the deck on a hot evening – and floats are appreciated by kids and grown ups alike!
I like that this recipe makes great Sorbet and Popsicles. Per serving about 51 calories and three ingredients – can’t go wrong there!
Cracked Black Pepper Honey Dew Sorbet
Cracked Pepper & Honeydew Sorbet
- One Smallish Honeydew or about 3/4’s of a larger one
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (don’t use preground from a can – it just won’t work the same)
Cut honeydew into sections, remove seeds and rind.
Place in food processor and puree with sugar (you may have to do this in batches.) Cool in the fridge for at least two hours and up to overnight. Add pepper and freeze in ice cream maker.
As mentioned above, depending on the size of your honeydew, you may have extra “slush” on hand – perfect for popsicles so have your mold ready or dixie cups and sticks on hand.
If you wash the honeydew first, you can place the leftover rind in a pitcher with cold water and refrigerate overnight for your own flavored water. (I also swish a bit of water around in the food processor bowl and add it to the pitcher.) Strain the next day before serving.
from the kitchen of http://www.frugalhausfrau.com
Let’s talk about how to save money/time on this recipe:
- Use a coupon matching site! One of my favorites in my area is Pocket Your Dollars, but every store has a group of enthusiastic Coupon Matchers. Do not discount the savings! I check their site every week, even if I don’t “need” to go to the store and often find bargains I can’t pass up.
- Follow my 12 Strategies – You’ll see them on the upper drop down menu of every page and how I apply them, below.
- Don’t get discouraged if your prices don’t match mine! Keep shopping at the best prices and your fridge/freezer and pantry will be stocked with sales priced ingredients.
- Read Strategies for additional tips as well as throughout the recipe, for saving time and managing food.
Nutrition:
(based on 12 servings) calories 51; cal from fat (2%) .98; tot fat .12g; sat fat /03g; chol 0mg; sod 15.06 mg; tot carb 13.3g; fib .67g; sug 12.31g; prot .45g
Put Your own Spin on It:
- I haven’t tried this yet, but a tablespoon or so of some type of alcohol will help keep this from being such a hard freeze – I imagine a vodka would work very nicely with a clean, fresh flavor or maybe tequila would add a bit of punch.
- If you want a freeze that’s not so hard, add more sugar, up to a cup or a cup and a half – but remember, honeydew is very sweet as it is – too much sugar would be absolutely cloying.
- If you love the black pepper idea, add more!
- A little lime would add a bit of zip to the honeydew.
Recipe made July 2012 for about $2.05; Source online, but my apologies, I didn’t make a notation and can’t say where I found it.