Servings: 6 Prep: 15 mins Cook: 40 mins Total: 55 mins
This recipe is part of a “pack” of recipes devoted to Thai Food and Thai flavors. If there are any ingredients which are used repeatedly, they are: kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, galangal and coconut.
More often than not, these ingredients are used in savory dishes. Curries, soups, salads, noodle dishes, etc. I’m not sure if a “sorbet” is common with the Thai world, but those flavors lend themselves VERY well to a sweetened frozen treat!
This is actually really quite easy to make. It just requires “steeping” the aromatics in the coconut milk, with the sweetener. It’s heated, then left to sit for about an hour. Finally, it’s strained, cooled and placed into an ice cream machine where it is churned into a frozen treat!
Texture Note: The absence of real sugar slightly changes the texture of frozen desserts. The mouth feel is just a little bit “off” (but FAR from unpleasant). You can approximate that sensation by adding vegetable glycerin and guar and/or xanthan gums. This will give you a texture and mouth feel closer to the sorbets you’re familiar with. If you leave them out, the end result will be very delicious, but will be harder to scoop, a little more crystallized, and the melting sensation in your mouth will have a little less viscosity. I like to place them in the fridge for about an hour before I eat them. This softens them, without melting them. MUCH more pleasant!
Portion Control: I’m a big fan of portioning, especially when it comes to this kind of “sweet treat”. I simply load them into little freezer friendly dishes (mine are 6.5 oz cups), and load them into the freezer, like sweet little dessert cartridges. When I want one, I just grab one. When I see glass, I know I’m done!
Oddity Note: I had some green curry paste in the fridge, some chicken, and a variety of vegetables. I also happened to have some of this sorbet in the freezer, when I received an unexpected visitor. Oddly, my mind snapped to that bit of sorbet! I quickly whipped up some miracle cauli-rice, sautéed my chicken and veggies, finished off with some green curry paste and a block of sorbet! It melted, grabbed the paste and enveloped all the chicken and veggies into a thick and aromatic gravy. Sure, it was a bit sweet, but I’ve always loved a good sweet green curry, anyway! Having these little pucks of pre-steeped and flavored coconut milk has actually come in handy several times, since! Robert Ripley says, “Believe it or not!”
Lemongrass Scented Coconut-Lime Sorbet
Print RateIngredients
- 1 cup 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 1/4 tsp guar gum (optional)
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 each 13.5-ounce cans coconut milk
- 1 tbsp fresh galangal minced (substitution = 1 tbsp. ginger)
- 1 tbsp lemongrass minced (substitution = 1 tsp. lemon zest)
- 4 each kaffir lime leaves cut into ribbons (substitution = 1 tsp. lime zest)
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 3 tbsp vegetable glycerine food grade (optional)
Instructions
- In a dry bowl, blend together your powdered sugar equivalent, with the two gums and a dash of salt. (If using a liquid sweetener, skip this step. The idea is to more evenly distribute the gums into the powder, to prevent clumping)
- In a sauce pot, over low heat, bring the coconut milk, galangal, lime leaves and lemon grass up to a slow simmer.
- Whisk in your sugar equivalent, two gums and dash of salt into the warm mixture. Turn off the heat and allow to steep for 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
- After an hour, strain your aromatics from the coconut milk, through a sieve.
- Chill the mixture.
- When the mixture has been chilled, whisk in your fresh lime juice and vegetable glycerin.
- Add mixture to your ice cream machine and follow instructions on the machine.
- Serve fresh, or pack in the freezer for later!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
I feel a song coming on …. "you put dee lime in dee coconut and drink dem both together, put dee lime in dee coconut, den you feel better, put dee lime in dee co-conut and drink dem both down, put dee lime in dee coconut and call me in de mornin’, say ooo-ooo-ooo…" sorry, couldn’t help myself! Loved that song and your ingredients started it playing in my head – had to share!!! 😉 xoxoxo
Such a great song, Nancy! I’m sure it will be stuck in my head for the rest of ze day! Thanks for that! 😉 😛