Mooove Over Ice Cream.. here comes the Sorbet

Ice cream is a funny thing.  When you can have it, you want more of it.  When you can't have it, you want it.  I guess, no matter what, you generally want ice cream.

With dairy allergies, we've had to leave ice cream behind, though we can still enjoy sorbets and "alternative" ice "creams."

Today, we made two attempts at making our own version of "ice cream" and we totally hit it out of the park.

Usually ice creams are made up of milk fats (solids and non solids), sweeteners, stabilizers and water.  Well today we made our own version of ice cream with only three ingredients.  That's right, two.  Well, four if you count air.

This "cream" has a banana base and is incredibly easy to make.  We'll get the kids' help next time we do it, but this time we just wanted to get the ingredients in and figure out exactly how to make it work.

Banana Sorbet
Our first product is basically bananas and honey.  Yup, that's it.  That's all you need to make an absolutely scrumptious sorbet that will have your tongue bashing your brains out trying get more.  Here's what to do:

Ingredients:
2 overripe bananas
6 regular "yellow" bananas
1/2 c local honey
1/2 tsp real vanilla
Food Processor
Ice Cream maker

Directions:
Take your 6 bananas and put them into a food processor until smooth.  They will take on a light batter-like appearance.  Add your 1/2 cup of honey until fully incorporated.  Put in the fridge to cool for about 30-40 minutes.  Add all ingredients to your ice cream maker and churn until semi-frozen.  Add to freezer.  You're done.

When you take this out of the freezer, you will instantly notice that the texture of the sorbet is very similar to ice cream.  Eerily so, in fact.  This recipe makes just under a half gallon of sorbet.  You'll want to store it in an airtight container to keep the consistency even.

My youngest son actually asked if he could completely finish the 1/4 gallon container.  We said no, though we did give him extra.  My other son liked it, but he said he enjoyed this next recipe even better.  All the adults were absolutely enamored with this particular recipe.  Overall, my "panel of judges" gives this particular recipe a perfect score.

My Moo Rating:

Strawberry Peach Banana
This next recipe came directly on the heels of the first one, as we already had the equipment out and dirty and didn't really need any cleanup between the two recipes.  This one is almost as simple as the first, though the results are completely different.

Ingredients:
1/3 c banana sorbet (as seen above) as a stabilizer
1 16oz bag frozen peaches
1 16oz bag frozen strawberries
    (fresh fruit in any case would be great)
1/2 c + 2TBps local honey
Food Processor
Ice Cream Maker

Directions:
Take your banana sorbet starter, peaches, strawberries and honey and blend until incorporated.  Because our fruits were frozen, it actually took on a sorbet-like consistency almost immediately.  Add all ingredients to the ice cream maker and churn until semi-frozen.  Place in freezer until serving time.  Enjoy.

This batch of sorbet actually has a much lighter, fluffier texture than the aforementioned banana one, and is very different, though extremely enjoyable.  We'd rate this one as excellent, though we might make some slight adjustments to the recipe next time we make it.

My Moo Rating:



The great thing about both of these recipes is, I know EXACTLY what my family is getting in their bodies because the ingredient list is almost nonexistent.  You could probably even substitute your own favorite fruits to make exactly what you want.  Next time we'll be

Have you tried this recipe?  Did you like it?  Did you make changes?  Let us know in the comments section.