sorbet Archives - Food Charmer

Tomorrow, National Watermelon day is one of the best days of the year! And there are so many ways to enjoy watermelon, whether you just dig in to this juicy, sweet summertime treat or use it in sorbet, drinks or even salsa. Or maybe you just want an ice cream treat that looks like watermelon…

Read on for recipes using watermelon in an ice cream treat, salsa, sorbet and agua fresca. Get even more watermelon recipes from the official watermelon site! And enjoy summertime.

Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe

Ingredients for 16 servings:

4 cups lime sherbet, slightly softened
5 cups Vanilla ice cream
1 container (28 ounces) Strawberry or Raspberry Fat Free Sorbet
1/2 cup Semi-Sweet mini chocolate morsels

Directions:

LINE 2-quart bowl with plastic wrap, making sure wrap hangs over side of the bowl by at least 4 inches.

SPOON sherbet into large mixer bowl; beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth. Spoon sherbet into prepared bowl, pressing into the bottom and up the side with the back of a spoon to form a smooth layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Remove vanilla ice cream from freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes; spoon into large mixer bowl and beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth. Add to bowl with sherbet, smoothing it over the sherbet in a thin layer. Freeze for 30 minutes.

REMOVE sorbet from the freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes. Spoon sorbet into large mixer bowl and beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth; stir in morsels. Spoon sorbet mixture over ice cream so it fills the remaining space and fills the bowl. Smooth down top; cover with plastic overhang, then add another sheet of plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 6 hours or up to 1 week.

TO UNMOLD, remove plastic wrap from top of bowl. Gently tug at the plastic overhang to loosen the bombe from the bowl. (If the bombe is difficult to remove from the bowl, set it in a large bowl filled with warm water for 8 to 10 seconds.) Place a serving platter over the bowl, invert and shake to release bombe. Peel away plastic wrap, then cut bombe into wedges. Serve immediately.

Watermelon Salsa recipe, shown above

Ingredients:

3 cups diced watermelon
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup minced red onion
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and stir. Adjust spices as needed. Serve at room temperature with tacos, fish, meats or vegetables.

This All Things Chocolate recipe contest was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to help judge! The first and second place winners were so close, and this third place recipe, Nestlé Crunch Bowls with Häagen-Dazs Sorbet & Sugared Mint Leaves, was right on their heels. Writing about the winning recipes, on the other hand, is easy. Because they are soooo delicious.

Thank you to Amy Di from Austin, Texas for this unique recipe for chocolate bowls made of Nestlé Crunch bars, filled with sorbet (we used mango and raspberry, but how good would these be with blackberry cabernet?) and topped with sugared mint leaves. This dessert has a really great flavor, and will delight the whole family. It’s also a great project for kids.

Nestlé Crunch Bowls with Häagen-Dazs Sorbet & Sugared Mint Leaves

Ingredients for 6 to 8 servings:

SUGARED MINT LEAVES

1 tablespoon powdered egg whites or 1 raw egg white
1 tablespoon water
6 to 8 fresh mint leaves or sprigs, washed and dried
Granulated sugar

NESTLÉ CRUNCH BOWLS

6 to 8 small balloons
1 pound NESTLÉ CRUNCH Candy Bars, coarsely chopped
Candy or instant-read thermometer
2 pints of your favorite Sorbet or Ice Cream
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 mango, diced

Directions:

FOR SUGARED MINT LEAVES: PLACE a cooling rack on a baking sheet. Slowly whisk together powdered egg whites and water until dissolved. Lightly coat mint leaves with egg whites using fingers or pastry brush, then coat each side with sugar. Place mint leaves on cooling rack. Leave on countertop to dry for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

FOR NESTLÉ CRUNCH BOWLS: BLOW up 6 to 8 balloons to the size of a small orange. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and clear a shelf in your freezer large enough to place the baking sheet so it will be level.

PLACE 2/3 of chopped candy bars in double boiler over hot (not boiling) water or set a large metal bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Make sure no steam or water gets into chocolate. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of pan or bowl. Do not let the chocolate exceed 110° F. Use a spatula to stir chocolate thoroughly and regularly for about 1 minute or until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl of chocolate and stir in the remaining 1/3 of chopped candy bars. This will lower the temperature of the chocolate. When the chocolate is about 84° F, place back on double boiler or saucepan to raise the temperature of the chocolate back to 86-87° F. Do NOT let the chocolate reach 88° F.

DIP the balloons into the melted chocolate and rock back and forth until the bottom 1/3 of the balloon is thoroughly coated. Check for thin areas and coat with more melted chocolate if needed. Place on prepared baking sheet as shown above and let sit in freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Use scissors to cut the top of balloons and deflate them, then gently twist and pull the balloon out of the chocolate bowl.

FILL chocolate cups with a scoop of your favorite Häagen-Dazs sorbet or ice cream. Garnish with sugared mint leaves, raspberries and mango.