Making Chocolate Sorbet

Are the tuile rabbit ears too much? Maybe. It was a boring photograph without them, it needed something. Anyway, as I way saying last week, this sorbet is not what people expect from sorbets. It’s creamy, almost silky smooth. Not quite as smooth as a chocolate ice cream, but darn close. And it’s dairy free! You start by mixing your Cremodan (or powdered gelatin) with about half of the sugar…

…stir it up, and set it aside.

Add the water to the remaining sugar…

…then add the cocoa powder.

It’ll take a little while to whisk it in, but be persistent (some sort of emulsifier would sure make this easier).

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and sprinkle in the remaining sugar/stabilizer mixture.

Whisk it together and remove the pan from the heat.

Lastly, whisk in the espresso powder and vanilla.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate it overnight.

The next day, process the mix in your ice cream maker according to directions, until it reaches roughly reaches this point:

Firm it in the freezer for at least a few hours. If you have a chest freezer, that’s ideal, since they get colder than normal side-by-side models. To serve the sorbet once it’s been completely frozen, allow it to thaw at least 20 minutes at room temperature, probably more like 30.