eve's watermelon pages

So you want to make watermelon sorbet…

Warning! A time-consuming and messy process, but always worth it. I learned how to make this sorbet in the mid-80s while working for Time Life Books as a proofreader. I adapted the recipe from the short-lived series "Healthy Home Cooking." You can use the same process with other types of fruit if you like but I think watermelon is best! – Ruth

The recipe

Ingredients

• 1 watermelon of your choice*
• 1 cup (roughly) of sugar, about 2 tbsp. per cup of watermelon juice, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or more if you like

  *More later about choosing a good watermelon. I usually use a relatively small one, about 8 to 10 lbs.

Technique

1. Slice the watermelon in half and scoop the flesh out into a large bowl.
2. Cut the flesh into pieces and put them into a blender or food processor (you will probably need to process in several batches); puree.
3. Using a sieve, strain the seeds and pulp out of the watermelon puree and reserve the liquid. (I recommend straining even if you use seedless watermelon; it seems to shorten freezing time and makes finished product smoother.)
4. Add sugar and lemon juice to the watermelon juice and stir.
5. Pour the juice into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. You'll need lots of ice (I'd get at least 20 pounds, to be safe) and some rock salt. It usually takes at least 20 minutes, but the freezing time is highly variable.

   That's it!

Alternate methods of freezing

You'll get the best texture if you make the sorbet in an ice cream freezer (I prefer a hand-cranked machine because you can take it anywhere) but if you don't have one, don't despair! There are a couple of methods you can use to get around that.

Method 1 After step 4, put the mixture in a bowl and place it in the freezer. Once it is frozen hard, cut it into pieces, put them into a blender or food processor, and blend briefly. If it is too slushy, return it to the freezer until it firms up.

Method 2 If you use seedless watermelon, instead of scooping the flesh into a bowl, slice it into cubes. Place the cubes on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Once frozen, put the cubes into a blender or food processor and process until the sorbet is smooth; add the sugar and lemon juice.

Fancy serving suggestion

The original recipe (which predated the Martha Stewart craze!) directed one to save a half of the watermelon shell, cut it into slices, reassembe the slices and freeze the reassembled shell for about 2 hours or until hard (you may need to use something to prop them up so they hold together). Once the sorbet is frozen, stir about a cup of blueberries into the mixture, then spoon the sorbet into the reassembled watermelon shell, smooth the surface over, and freeze it again. The frozen watermelon is then cut into "slices," complete with blueberry "seeds."

How is it, you ask? I can't speak to the effectiveness of this method, as I've never had the patience not to eat the sorbet right out of the ice cream freezer… Well, OK, I once used the watermelon shell as a bowl and spooned the sorbet into it before we gobbled it up (see photo).