Erica De Mane

Fresh Berries in a French Cup, by Joseph Keiffer, 2020.

Recipe below: Strawberry Sorbetto with Lemon Zest and Rosé Wine

I decided to broaden my Covid life by ordering myself a new ice cream maker. The one I had, a wedding gift, which makes it three decades old, was cranky and warped, not unlike me these days. Now I have a big new stainless box that whizzes along, turning out stuff that’s really smooth. I’m not a big sweets cook, and most ice cream I try I find too rich. I don’t like pully ice cream, with eggs and lots of cream. I pattern my ice cream after the cremolata they serve at Rocco’s, on Bleecker Street. It’s an Italian American almond ice, actually a cross between an ice and an ice cream. It seems to be made from milk, maybe some cream, toasted almonds, possibly a bit of almond extract, and sugar. I’ll be writing down my recipe for it and be back to you soon.

But since it’s high strawberry season up here in the beauteous Hudson Valley, my first try with my new machine was a strawberry sorbetto. That’s an easy thing to make, no cooking required. At the last minute I decided to splash in some rosé wine. I needed something to loosen and open up the strawberry purée, and the wine was sitting on the counter (water was not an option). It added a subtle boozy fizzle.

I’ll let you know how the rest of this ice cream adventure goes. Next up is definitely the cremolata, and then it’ll be peach season. And I’m also thinking maybe sweet-and-savory, something with cucumbers or fennel, or an herb ice with basil or mint or lemon verbena or rosemary. Something to think about.

Strawberry Sorbetto with Lemon Zest and Rosé Wine

(Makes about 1½ pints)

2 pints sweet local strawberries, hulled
½ cup sugar (or less, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
½ cup rosé wine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The grated zest and half the juice from 1 lemon
1 pinch of salt
1 heaping tablespoon crème fraîche

Put all the ingredients except the crème fraîche into a food processor, and work them until they’re smooth and a beautiful bright pink. Taste to test for sugar—you may want to add more, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries (mine were medium sweet). Add the crème fraîche, and pulse a few times to blend it in. The mix will be even pinker now.  Refrigerate the mixture for a few hours. You want it to be cold before you put it in your ice cream maker.

Freeze it in your machine until it’s well thickened. Scrape it into a big bowl with a lid, and freeze it for a few hours to further firm it up.