Challenge: cucumber sherbet

A few weeks ago, I was at dinner with some friends, talking about food as usual (also talking about YA sci-fi/fantasy, also as usual). One of my dining companions mentioned that she was craving cucumber ice cream or sorbet or something along those lines, but had not been able to find it available anywhere, or even a recipe to make herself. And naturally I took this casual statement as my next culinary challenge. To my eye, it had to be a sherbet–something a little bit milky but not overly so. It wasn’t until a few days ago, though, that I had my inspiration for how to make it. The answer is coconut milk. Coconut is sort of the answer to everything, though, if you ask me.

I based my recipe very loosely on this one for Tip Top Melon Sherbet from 101 Cookbooks, which seemed like a good place to start given that cucumbers and melons are closely related.

As with so many recipes I love, this is really just an ingredient list. The Cuisinart and the ice cream maker do the heavy lifting. But that means you need to make sure you’ve got very high quality ingredients to start with. I chose a mild alfalfa honey from Tea & Honey at Grand Central, and “burpless” cucumbers from Bodhitree’s stand at the greenmarket. They are not quite as watery as regular cucumbers, and the seeds are practically unnoticeable. Then also a full-fat organic coconut milk, which I was hoping would bring enough fat to the mix to keep the sherbet from freezing solid. And I had a bit of lime juice frozen into ice cubes stashed in my freezer, and some wonderful African Blue basil growing at my window, which was a gift from one of my wonderful dinner guests at Cook Club #1.

Peel the cucumbers and cut into pieces, which go into the Cuisinart.

Puree thoroughly. You don’t want any chunks of cucumber remaining. 

I decided to take the additional step of running it through my double-mesh strainer, which was probably not necessary, but I really wanted to ensure the smoothest, creamiest texture possible. Truth be told, there wasn’t very much pulp remaining at all, so you can almost definitely skip this step. Then mix in the coconut milk.

Add 3 tablespoons of honey (start with 2, and add a third–and even a fourth if you want–if you think it’s necessary), and the lime juice, and the chopped basil. In retrospect, I probably should have pureed the basil with the cucumbers, but live and learn, right?

Then run the whole mess through your ice cream maker. If you’d like, you could add a tablespoon of light rum, which would contribute a little bit of flavor and go a long way towards keeping the texture nice and scoopable. I did not include any in this batch, though, because for uninteresting reasons this was destined to be a booze-free sherbet.

Once again I did not follow the “don’t test out new recipes on guests” rule. (Although for dinner itself, I revised my eggplant schnitzel with swiss chard and white beans recipe, with summer squash and veal cutlets, making it actual wienerschnitzel, I guess.) After dinner, I pulled the tub of sherbet out of the freezer with a sense of cautious optimism, and a vocal caveat that this was an experiment. My dining companion’s opinion was that it tasted like something you’d get in a high-end Japanese restaurant, which, ok, maybe. He also made the very astute comment that mint would have been good in place of the basil. And that’s exactly what I would have done except that presently, my basil plant is bigger than my mint. Either way, we both declared it a success. It is light and a little creamy and very refreshing, which is just what I was aiming for. It freezes a little bit harder than I’d like, but not so much that it’s a problem (and as I said, a little rum would take care of that).

Cucumber Coconut Sherbet
Makes 1 quart

1 1/2 lbs cucumber, peeled and chopped roughly
2 tsp fresh basil or mint
3/4 c. coconut milk (original, not low fat)
3 Tbsp mild honey (alfalfa or acacia would be good)
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp light rum (optional)

Puree the cucumber and basil in a cuisinart. If you’re neurotic, run it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. If you are not, skip that step.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients, adjusting amounts as suits your own taste. (And remembering that things are not as sweet when they are cold, so don’t go TOO light on the honey.)
Run the liquid through your ice cream maker. Voila!