Natalie of Good Girl Style is back today with a dessert I hope you’ll consider making for any July 4th festivities. Why? Because her instructions provide a genius way of crafting sorbet without an ice cream maker and whipping up “cream” without any dairy. Wow. Natalie joins us each month to share incredible desserts with Big Girls, Small Kitchen readers–desserts that are entirely gluten-free, but not like obviously gluten-free. That means no specialty flours or hard-to-find ingredients, just good old-fashioned butter, sugar, chocolate, and fruit. Don’t miss her most recent posts, about Lemon Bars and Mini Rhubarb Cheesecake Pots.
Mango is one of my favorite tropical flavors. It pairs magically with coconut and lime (and cardamom!), making this creamy treat utterly refreshing on a hot day. The color is so intense and cheerful. Design-wise, I love it paired with the freshness of jadeite glass dishes. The recipe can be made any number of times (do each batch separately in the blender) and frozen in a deeper metal pan to make enough to feed a crowd. Adjust the sugar once you’ve gauged the sweetness of your mangos (if you had beautifully ripe mangos you froze yourself you’ll need less than a bag of supermarket frozen fruit may require).
The brilliant topping, coconut cream, basically comes straight from a can of coconut milk. It’s kind of miraculous. So you don’t get lost at the store, remember that coconut milk is usually found in the Asian cooking aisle of the supermarket. Don’t grab coconut water instead: it won’t work! If you can’t find it, you can use regular whipped cream and flavor it with coconut extract.
Lastly, dipping your ice cream scoop in hot water will make beautiful scoops every time. For garnish, a sprinkle of shredded coconut and a dash of extra lime zest make this dessert extra pretty for guests.
**Recipe**
Easy Mango Sorbet with Coconut Cream
By Natalie Wise
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the sorbet
1 pound frozen mango chunks
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
For the whipped topping
1 can coconut milk, chilled (place it in the refrigerator the night before)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sugar
Place all the sorbet ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into serving dishes if serving immediately, or into a metal baking dish. If the latter, use the back of a spoon to level the top. Place in the freezer to serve later.
To make the whipped coconut cream, open the can of refrigerated coconut milk and scoop out the solidified part. Place it in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and add the vanilla and sugar. Whip for 3 to 5 minutes or until the substance has turned light and creamy. Serve on top of the sorbet.
