It may be a little early in the season to roll out frozen desserts, but when it comes to ice creams/gelatos, sorbets and ices, it’s never too early. And since I am prescribing them as part of my friend Gigi’s anti-inflammatory diet, why not share them now.

Before there was sorbet in our house, there was sherbet, orange to be exact. Outside of that there weren’t too many options besides store-bought popsicles. Fruit flavored frozen sugar-water on a stick is what my mother called them. She created a variant for me using real fruit juice, which, for a time, satisfied my sweet tooth. It wasn’t till the early 80’s that I first experienced sorbet. Refreshing, low-fat, low cal, sorbet immediately found its place among my favorite summer desserts. It wasn’t until I worked in a French kitchen—where they made their sorbets from scratch—that I was introduced to an endless array of different and often exotic flavors such as blueberry basil, and rose petal sorbet as well as acquiring the techinques for producing quality, professional sorbets. Impressed by how easy they were to make, I bought an ice cream machine and started creating my own.

Kiwi isn’t a fruit I readily use for sorbets the way I use other fruit, but when infused with key-lime it seems to bring out the best in this sorbet by adding more depth of color and a sweet finish, but mostly the puree provides structure and body to the finished product that thin, juice bases—such as citrus, watermelon and pomegranet— aren’t able to accomplish on their own.

Recipe notes. Adding whipped, pasteurized egg whites or aquafaba merengue acts as an emulsion to stabilize the sorbet and give it a smooth creamy texture. What you will need: Cuisinart ice cream machine, blender/food processor, citrus juicer, mixing bowl, hand mixer, strainer, and container for freezing. Yields: 1 1/2-2 quarts. Difficulty level: Very easy.

Ingredients:

Simple syrup

• 2-cups water
• 2-cups stevia
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• 1/2-cup kiwi puree, strained
• 4-limes zested
• 1-cup fresh key-lime juice (if unavailable use regular limes)*
• *1/4-tsp key-lime extract
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• 2-Tbsp vodka; adding alcohol provides the sorbet with a softer consistency (optional)
• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• 2-Tbsp egg whites or 1/3 cup aquafaba (if using aquafaba, add 1/4 tsp lime extract)
• pinch cream of tartar to stablize merangue

Preparation:

1. Place ice cream cylinder in freezer overnight.
2. In a saucepan combine water and stevia and bring water to a boil.
3. Allow simple syrup to cool.
4. In food processor or blender, puree kiwi, strain, and set aside
5. In mixing bowl, combine zest, juice, puree and simple syrup
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight

Next day:

1. Follow manufacture’s instruction for ice cream machine and transfer sorbet to cylinder.
2. While sorbet is churning, using hand mixer, beat egg whites or aquafaba on high speed until soft-stiff peaks form. If using aquafaba, add 1/4 tsp key-lime extract to off-set its inherent bean undertone.
3. With ice cream machine running, add merengue to sorbet towards the end of the churning cycle.
4. Using rubber spatula, scoop sorbet into container. To prevent Ice crystals forming, lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of sorbet, cover with lid and freeze.