Peak-Season Nectarine Sorbet with Honey

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Blender or food processor
• •Ice cream maker (optional)
• •Freezer-safe container with lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Select your nectarines

   Start at the market. You want nectarines that are heavy in your hand, fragrant before you slice them, and give slightly when pressed near the stem. The skin should be deeply golden with red blush, no green shoulders. If they are not ripe, leave them on the counter for a day or two. Unripe fruit makes a sorbet that tastes like nothing.

   White-fleshed nectarines produce a paler, more delicate sorbet. Yellow-fleshed varieties yield deeper color and more assertive flavor. Both are beautiful.
2. 2

   Prepare the fruit

   Halve the nectarines and remove the pits. Cut into rough chunks. There is no need to peel them. The skins hold color and flavor, and they will disappear entirely once blended. Truly ripe fruit practically falls apart under your knife.

3. 3

   Blend until smooth

   Add nectarine pieces to a blender with the honey, lemon juice, and salt. Blend on high until completely smooth, about one minute. Stop and scrape down the sides if needed. The mixture should be silky, with no visible pieces of skin remaining. Taste it now. This is the flavor you are freezing.

4. 4

   Adjust sweetness

   The sweetness depends entirely on your fruit. If the nectarines are at perfect ripeness, a third cup of honey is usually right. If they are slightly less sweet, add another tablespoon. Remember that freezing dulls sweetness, so the mixture should taste just a bit sweeter than you want the finished sorbet.

   Different honeys bring different character. Wildflower is floral and complex. Orange blossom echoes stone fruit. Clover is mild and lets the nectarine lead.
5. 5

   Chill the base

   Pour the puree into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until very cold, at least two hours or overnight. Cold mixtures churn faster and produce smaller ice crystals. Patience here gives you a smoother sorbet.

6. 6

   Churn the sorbet

   Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions, usually twenty to twenty-five minutes. The sorbet is ready when it holds soft peaks and pulls away from the sides of the canister. It will be the texture of soft-serve.

7. 7

   Freeze until firm

   Transfer to a freezer-safe container, pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent ice crystals. Freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least two hours. Pull it from the freezer five minutes before serving to let it soften slightly. Sorbet should yield to the spoon, not fight it.

   If you do not have an ice cream maker, pour the chilled mixture into a shallow pan and freeze. Every thirty minutes, rake it with a fork to break up ice crystals. After three hours, you will have a granita-style texture that is just as honest.

Chef Tips

• •Buy more nectarines than you need and taste one before committing. Fruit varies from farm to farm, tree to tree. You want the one that makes you close your eyes.
• •Local honey matters. The bees that pollinate your region carry the flavor of your landscape. Supermarket honey is often blended and heated until it tastes like nothing.
• •This sorbet is best within three days. After that, the aliveness fades and ice crystals form. Make small batches while the fruit is perfect rather than one large batch you cannot finish.
• •If nectarines are not in season, wait. Or look for perfectly ripe peaches. The principle remains the same: the fruit must be extraordinary, or the sorbet will be ordinary.

Advance Preparation

• •The puree base can be refrigerated overnight before churning. This actually improves texture.
• •Finished sorbet keeps for up to one week, but quality peaks in the first three days.
• •Nectarines can be frozen in chunks if you have a surplus. Blend from frozen with slightly less honey, as frozen fruit tastes sweeter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)