Fresh Fig and Port Sorbet

Submitted by Gandalf The White

"The ingredients are clearly classic Portuguese (figs, port) and sorbet was almost part of the Moorish repertoire (ice was brought from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Alhambra to provide coolness for sliced fruit), but in all other respects, this is about as non-traditional a recipe as you can find for the Zaar World Tour 5 (2009)! This recipe uses no milk or cream; the flavor of the figs and port is there, but understated and it is absolutely wonderful. You can stay within the traditional Iberian palate and use vanilla sugar instead of plain sugar (don't use vanilla extract, unless you cook off the alcohol), but that's just gilding the lilly. Full credit goes to Eating Out Loud (http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2008/08/fresh-fig-port-sorbet.html), who in turn credits Ms. Adventures in Italy for the idea of a Fig Sorbet (http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/07/03/fresh-fig-sorbet/)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 1-2

ingredients

• 8 fresh figs
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1 meyer lemon, zest and juice
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons port wine
• 1 1⁄2 cups water

directions

1. Trim the hard parts and stems of the figs and quarter the remainder.
2. Add the figs and water to a saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer.
3. As the mixture heats up, add the lemon zest.
4. Stir 2-3 times over the first 10 minutes.
5. After about 10 minutes, the figs will soften and begin to break up.
6. When the figs are soft, add the sugar and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes more until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy.
7. Remove from the heat.
8. Using either a stick blender in the pot or transferring the mixture to a regular blender, VERY CAREFULLY (Remember, this mixture is hot), puree the mixture.
9. Now add the port, 1 1/2 cups of water and the lemon zest to the mixture.
10. Taste and if it's too tangy (i.e., you didn't have Meyer lemons and substituted regular lemons), you may need to adjust with a tiny amount of sugar.
11. Once the mix is cool, pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions to get a semi-firm consistency.
12. Remove the ice cream and place in a container in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
13. Remove, scoop, and enjoy!

Reviews

[KateL]

Very sophisticated, this would be a good palate cleanser. My sorbet hasn't frozen yet (I only have a Donvier), and I would recommend using it as a fig swirl in vanilla ice cream. I'm not sure I am sophisticated enough to be able to eat an entire scoop of this sorbet, but it was too intriguing to pass up. It has a definite figgy taste. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Gandalf. Made for the Bodacious Brickhouse Babes for ZWT5.