Life has an ironic sense of timing sometimes. I spent nearly 30 years of my life largely dairy-free. That was due to a lactose intolerance I’d had for as long as I can remember. Then, two years into the gluten-free diet, I wondered: what if my lactose intolerance all those years was secondary to the Celiac? What if, with my intestines healed, I was once again producing the lactase enzyme on my own?
When it came to frozen desserts, I always went one of two routes: frozen yogurt, or sorbet. I decided to test the waters and give myself a serving of ice cream without taking Lactaid pills. No reaction. Incredible. 30 years of lactose intolerance had resolved with the aid of a gluten-free diet. I was free to enjoy cheeses and ice creams and other dairy-filled foods.
Then a funny thing happened. People around me started going dairy-free. We temporarily took Marin off of all dairy in an attempt to address a rash that had developed on her face. (That turned out to be nothing more than your ordinary run of the mill dermatitis, and she tested negative for lactose intolerance and casein allergy…) Our friend’s son, John, who’s now 18 months old or so, has been taken off of all dairy. And our buddy, Morgan, is dairy-free, too.
Of course, having been on the receiving end of so much dietary accomodation and love from friends and family, we wanted to do the same for these people in our lives. Which inspired me to start making homemade sorbets. (Admittedly, I also just plain love sorbet. Compared to the creaminess of ice cream, the light, refreshing flavor of a crisp, fruity sorbet really hits the spot sometimes…)
Since we always seem to have a refrigerator bin full of limes, I started there first…with a lime sorbet. I like my citrus sorbets on the tart side. Kelli prefers them sweeter, and my version has a bit too much pucker factor for her liking, but I include basic modifications below to make it more or less sweet to suit your preferences. Here’s the recipe:
3/4 cup agave nectar
1 1/2 cups cold water
zest of 3 limes
1 1/2 cups lime juice with pulp (about 6 limes, or 1/4 cup per lime)
1. Whisk together the agave and water.
2. Add the lime juice and zest, and whisk to thoroughly mix.
3. Pour the mix into your ice cream maker as per its instructions.
4. Transfer the sorbet to a resealable container and let it set up in your freezer for one hour.
When the sorbet first comes out of the ice cream maker, it will be very soft. Letting it set up in the freezer for one hour or more will give you a firmer sorbet. If your sorbet sets up overnight or longer, it becomes more like an Italian ice (it took me right back to my childhood on Long Island eating Italian ices during the summertime). You can enjoy it as such, or let it melt slightly to soften.
For a sweeter sorbet, decrease the lime juice to 1 cup and/or increase the agave nectar to 1 cup. You can also make this recipe using simple syrup in lieu of agave. (To make simple syrup, dissolve sugar in an equal part water over heat and then let cool.) If using simple syrup, use 1 cup simple syrup to every 3/4 cup agave nectar. (agave tastes sweeter than simple syrup, so you don’t use as much…) Enjoy!
– Pete