When I returned from a foodie event last night, the first question I posed to my husband was if he had any of the lychee sorbet I had made earlier. Without hesitation he replied, “I did. It was gooood. I had lots of it.” The meager portion remaining of the originally 3 1/2 cups of sorbet that I found in the freezer, to me, is a wonderful testament to how nicely it turned out.
I have been eager to take my ice cream maker out of the pantry for many weeks. I quickly fell in love last year when I discovered how easy it was to use and how nice it is to be able to control what goes in my frozen treats. I experimented with a few flavors last year. My kiwi gelato still needs work but my cantaloupe sorbet is perfect just the way it is. If you like chocolate, here is a great one to try. The common thread with the above is that they all have a very short ingredient list. The chocolate or the fruit flavor is what shines through. The cantaloupe tastes like a frozen cantaloupe and not like sugar masquerading with the aid of fillers and additives.
I’m happy to say that this lychee-coconut sorbet turned out the same way. Lychee is one of my favorite summer flavors, along with coconut. Summer trips to Hawaii are always marked by a trip to the local shave-ice stand and lychee is always my flavor of choice. Unfortunately, fresh ones are hard to come by and when they are available, they can be a bit costly. I managed to pick up a bag of lychee at the Asian market a few days ago and I happily trotted home with this frozen treat in mind.
But guess what happens when you have a bag of fresh lychee sitting on the counter. Soon you will have eaten too many of them and will not have left enough for a full batch of sorbet. Luckily, I always keep the canned variety in my pantry so that is what I used here. Canned lychee really maintains the integrity of the fresh ones. In fact, I found the light syrup to come in handy for this sorbet. I added no sugar to this at all. Instead, I threw in a bit of shredded, sweetened coconut, partly as a sweetening supplement but mainly to increase the summer flavor I wanted to achieve. A bit of fresh lime juice brought everything together for a taste of summer in my ice cream maker. Just ask my husband–he’ll tell you.
*** Also, I’m excited to share with you that tomorrow will mark my very first guest post for one of your favorite bloggers. More details tomorrow but I’ll give you a hint: The post is all about childhood memories and one of my favorite summer treats. ***
Lychee-Coconut Sorbet
- 2 20-oz cans lychee, including syrup (yields 3 cups drained fruit and 2 1/2 cups liquid)
- 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- Juice of 1/2 – 1 lime
- Pureé the drained fruit and coconut until smooth and set aside. I recommend using a blender instead of a food processor.
- In a medium sauce pan, heat the liquid over medium heat and allow to cook for a few minutes. I didn’t have any sugar to dissolve so this step may not even be necessary. In the end, I reduced my liquid by 1/4 cup.
- Combine the pureéd fruit and liquid and chill. I waited a couple of hours before passing the mixture through a sieve to allow the flavors to meld. This is where I recommend using a blender because I found that I had to much solids and was reluctant to separate all that flavor from my sorbet. I took out my blender and blended the solids (this includes the shredded coconut) with a few tablespoons of the liquid. I passed through the sieve again and was left with only a tablespoon of pulp. It worked.
- Chill in the freezer for about a half hour. Add the fresh lime juice and stir before processing in your ice cream maker.
- Process in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
this looks fabulous delicious sorbet
Jean, We think alike. Now you made me want to go to Asian market and get Lychees. We all here love it, if I peel it! 🙂 This sorbet looks great!! Fresh and summer-y!
You one of food bloggers who really convinced me that I need an ice cream maker this season. Regular ice cream maker can make sorbet too right? I need to see which size I should buy for family of 4… We all love lychee and I’m drooling here looking at the beautiful pictures. These lychees seems bigger than what I see in market. I need to come back to get recipe as soon as I buy one!
Hi Nami,
Yes, a regular ice cream maker will make sorbet (and gelato!). 🙂 The lychee are actually small but they look big because of my mini bowls. Glad you like this. 🙂
Wow!!! Look at that! This is just incredible, I bet the flavors are just simply amazing and so refreshing!
I think I need an ice cream machine… I have a huge old school one, but I think I would make this again and again. So an upgrade might be necessary. Love it!
Love the fresh lychees! Don’t think I’ve ever worked with the fresh ones before, my childhood was laden with the canned stuff (still delicious) that we’d always enjoy chilled as a dessert! 🙂 I know, I’ve been using my ice cream machine a ton these past few months. It’s so easy to make whatever your craving and so much more fun than going to the store and buying one that’s probably got tons of extra bad-for-you ingredients!
I’m far from being called an ice-cream fan but ice shavings and sorbet, oh, anytime!
I ate only once a dessert made with lychee and never saw a real fruit, you had me thinking with the Asian store, I have to check it out, maybe I get lucky.
Thanks for sharing Jean, hope you’re having a wonderful Friday.
p.s. can’t wait to read your guest post, so excited!
Definitely LOVING this sorbet! I LOVE lychees.
Lovely, lovely sorbet. It is so difficult to read posts like this. I end up desperately wanting what I saw. I can just imagine the fresh taste of that. I love sorbets more than ice cream because they are so refreshing. Can’t wait for your guest post. Thanks for the sneak preview.
I have never made sorbet in my ice cream maker – am going to change that this summer. Looks wonderful!
Hi Jean, it’s sorbet time of year again and this flavor is a knockout;-) Gorgeous photos, is that a swatch of the fabric you picked up I spy??? It looks wonderful.
I can’t wait to check out your guest post, congrats!
Hi Patty,
I’m in full sorbet-making mode. There are so many flavors I want to try. It’s a good thing one batch is relatively small, LOL!
Yes, that’s one of the fabric pieces I bought–good eye! I’ve been having fun using them. 🙂
This looks soooo refreshing!
Only three ingredients???? !!!! How wonderful!
LOVE this! I know a little girl who love this, too 🙂 Can’t wait to see the guest post, very excited!
Looks like it’s time for me to start using my ice cream machine again! This combination sounds totally refreshing.
So simple, yet elegant and refreshing. I want to buy some lychees tomorrow! Thank you for sharing such yummy photos and this tasty recipe. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
What a perfect sorbet – love the combination of flavors!!! Your photos are simply beautiful. Love that you are doing a guest post and Greg’s blog is simply wonderful. Enjoy your weekend – the weather should be stunning!!!! 🙂
I love lychee nuts, and paired with coconut in a sorbet, it must be so good!
Oh my yumminess!! If I was hubs, I would have finished the entire thing! 🙂
Wow, simple and delicious! I’ve never tried lychees before but I couldn’t imagine a better first taste.
I had the fist fresh lychee of the season yesterday; what a treat! I made some lychée frozen yogurt recently and loved it (with canned ones) and next this sorbet, as I love the lychee perfumed flavor.
The second photo of the lychees is absolutely stunning! And the vibrant polka dot fabric provides such a great backdrop 🙂 Coconut-lychee sorbet sounds so refreshing. Congrats – I saw Greg’s lineup of guest bloggers – very impressive group!
I love lychee and they have just come into season here. I think I may try this with the fresh ones, or maybe a mix of both.
very pretty and so refreshing during the summer. I am a huge fan of tropical flavors and get over the whole locally sourced food thing to eat luscious fruits like lychees, coconuts, pineapples, and mangoes.
That looks so good, and refreshing! I recently made lychee sorbet and coconut-saffron ice cream, but your sorbet sounds like the best of both worlds.
I love this recipe! It’s so simple and something that’s even easier as it’s the kind of thing we already have in our cupboards. I can feel some coming on in our kitchen now, too. Fabulous!