My dear husband was inspired to create this Italian-style lemon sorbet after visiting the Amalfi Coast of Italy. This southern edge of Italy’s Sorrentine Peninsula is known for its lemons. They are intensely aromatic, juicy, and sweet.
To capture the spirit and some of the taste of these unique lemons, David adjusted his traditional lemon sorbet in two ways. He uses Meyer lemons, a cross between a citron and a mandarin, which are sweeter than traditional Eureka lemons. Second, he includes a nip of Limoncello, the Italian lemon liqueur also popular in the Amalfi Coast. The Limoncello intensifies the flavor plus helps prevent the sorbet from freezing into an icy block.
Buon appetito!
Serves 6-8 as dessert.
Preparation time: 20 minutes initially, plus ideally chilling overnight in the refrigerator, then processing in an ice cream maker and finally freezing until firm.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups sugar, preferably extra fine
1 Tbsp finely grated zest from one Meyer lemon
1 ½ cups freshly squeezed juice from 4-5 Meyer lemons and 1 Eureka lemon (note: if Meyer Lemons are not available, use regular/Eureka lemons)
1 ½ Tbsp Limoncello
Preparation
- Make a simple syrup by heating the water, sugar and zest until the sugar dissolves and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool and let zest infuse the syrup.
- When the syrup is cool, add juice and Limoncello and stir to mix.
- Chill in refrigerator, ideally overnight.
- Put in ice cream maker and process until a firm but slushy consistency.
- Spoon into freezer-proof container and place in freezer until firm.
- Serve small portions with a mint leaf or julienned lemon peel.
— Created by David Matthews for Connect
