Coconut Lime Sorbet

Every once in a while I'll scan Craigslist to see if anyone's selling an ice cream maker with its own compressor. They're usually several hundred dollars, so it's something that would be nice to have, but definitely not necessary, especially since I have such a reliable Cuisinart ICE-20. But a couple of weeks ago, I found one being sold for only $80. I was a little suspicious so I asked the seller why he was selling it, and he said that he was getting married, and his wife-to-be wanted him to get rid of stuff. Well, I was more than happy to help him out. It was a nice surprise when he included four ice cream sundae glasses, an ice cream scoop, and two ice cream recipe books with it as well!

The ice cream maker in question is a Lello 4070 Gelato Junior, and I love it! No more needing to pre-freeze the canister; I don't even need to chill the ice cream base before starting up the machine! The only thing I miss about my Cuisinart is that I can't really get any good pictures of the ice cream as it's churning....

One recipe I really wanted to try out in my new ice cream maker was this one for coconut lime sorbet. It's definitely one of my all-time favorite ice creams to make, and even won the ice cream thrown down I participated in a couple of years ago. But it doesn't always freeze well. There's definitely been a couple of times when the Cuisinart canister started melting before the sorbet was done churning. So I knew that it would be a good way to test how well the Lello ice cream maker worked.

Coconut Lime Sorbet (from epicurious)
makes about 1 pint

15-ounce can cream of coconut (preferably Coco Lopez)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

In a bowl whisk together ingredients. Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

I love the fact that there are only three ingredients for this sorbet; two, if you don't count the water. Also, you don't need to heat or chill the base before freezing. In fact, you shouldn't chill the base because then the coconut fat would solidify out of the mixture. What I think is kind of interesting is that it does harden when you're churning it, but since it's dissipated throughout the sorbet, it almost forms chips of coconut fat, adding a little bit of texture. I think it's almost a misnomer to label this treat a sorbet because, even though it doesn't contain any dairy, it's so super rich! The sweetness from the cream of coconut and the tartness from the fresh lime juice is also really intense.

I've used bottled lime juice before in a pinch when I didn't have any fresh limes, and it tasted just as good. I would definitely NOT substitute coconut milk for the cream of coconut, though. Cream of coconut is a lot sweeter and fattier than coconut milk; if you use coconut milk instead it just won't have the right amount of sweetness or texture. Trust me on this one. One last thing, just as this sorbet doesn't freeze well, it also melts rather quickly, so make sure you take it out only right before you want to serve it.

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Rainy Day Coconut Lime Cakelets

So Opening Day today got rained out. =( I had already taken the day off so when I woke up this morning (before I found out about the rainout), I decided to make the key lime coconut cake recipe from Gourmet but in cupcake form. Only I didn't have any key limes, so I just used regular limes. But I accidentally used all 1/4 cup of lime juice in the batter instead of only half the amount. And I didn't have self-rising flour, so I substituted a mixture of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt, only I completely misread the recipe and used 3/4 cups instead of 1 3/4 cups. Um, so what I ended up with wasn't really a cupcake, and for lack of a better term I renamed them cakelets. =)

Coconut Lime Cakelets (adapted from Gourmet)
makes 24 cakelets

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated Key lime zest
2 large eggs
3/4 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup milk
3/8 cup fresh Key lime juice, divided
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon coconut rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir together flour and 1/2 cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 1/4 cup lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them a little more than halfway. Bake until golden, 20 to 22 minutes.

Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using) and spoon over cakelets. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

I baked the first batch of cakelets for 20 minutes and noticed that the middle of the cakelets fell in and they were pulling away from the liner as they cooled. Also, they were still quite soft when I removed them from the tin. So I baked the next batch for 22 minutes, and while they came out a little more firm, they were a lot harder to remove from the liners. So I just used a spoon to eat those.

Even though they didn't turn out how I expected them to, much like my plans for today, at least they were still quite yummy (unlike my plans for today). They totally remind me of eating a lemon bar but in cakelet form.

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