If you are what you eat then I would undoubtedly end up some cross between a banana and a block of extra sharp white cheddar. Not exactly a pretty outcome, but reality nonetheless. I always try to have bananas on hand and I do my best to eat them before they go bad, but a girl can only eat so much fruit. Sometimes they do sit on the counter and turn an unsightly shade, and instead of throwing them out I freeze them to use in bread or muffins at a later time.
Last weekend it occurred to me that the bag of frozen bananas was absolutely taking over and beginning to consider creating a freezer dictatorship with the carton of Ben & Jerry’s and Stouffers frozen lasagna. A recipe intervention was urgently in order. Thankfully I found a lovely and simple sorbet that allowed me to use all six of the troublesome bananas at one time so peace has once again resumed in the freezer kingdom.
I absolutely loved how this sorbet came out! The texture and taste were excellent, and I like to think that it’s almost a good for me frozen treat if you overlook that whole cup of sugar syrup. At least it isn’t heavy cream, right? Although, I suppose I should confess that I topped my first dish with fudge sauce, caramelized walnuts, and maraschino cherries.
Banana Sorbet
Available in Sally Sampson’s cookbook Recipe of the Week: Ice Cream published by Wiley Press
2 cups pureed overripe bananas
1 cup sugar syrup (Note: Per Sally – Place 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and cook, over medium high heat, until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool, cover and refrigerate up to 1 month).
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
Place the bananas, sugar syrup and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture reaches 40ºF, about two hours.
Transfer to an ice cream maker and proceed according to the manufacturer’s instructions.