When life gives you mangoes, make mango sorbet.
That’s what I did a few weeks ago when the hype-person for Mangoes (these jobs!) sent me a box of them in the mail. In terms of things you can find waiting near your front door after work, it was pretty good. I haven’t worked much with mangoes. I eat them, occasionally. The “tropical” fruits remain a little bit of a mystery to me. They are never local, here in Chicago, and every time I buy one I feel slight guilt and confusion. Do they have a season? Are there better times to eat them? I only buy them in winter, when there is no local fruit of any kind.
I had big plans for my mangoes, but they were ripening quickly and I decided to keep it simple with this sorbet. I was glad I did, because the sorbet was awesome and churned on one of the first days of summer heat in Chicago. It increased my excitement for the summer and all of the fun things we’ll eat that are grown right here in the Midwest. So, goodbye to the tropics and hello to the heartland.
You can use whatever mango variety you like for this sorbet, just make sure is ripe and delicious. Adjust the amounts of lime and rum to your taste. These coconut sticks [1] would be the perfect cookie to serve alongside the sorbet.
Mango Sorbet (adapted from David Lebovitz [2])
- 2-3 large, ripe mangoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (to taste)
- 1-2 tablespoons dark rum (to taste)
Peel the mangoes and remove the flesh from the pit. Chop the mango flesh into large chunks and place it in a blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Squeeze the mango pits and skins over the blender to extract as much juice as possible. Puree the mixture until it is smooth. Taste, and add more lime juice or rum, if needed. Chill the mixture in the fridge for a couple of hours before processing in your ice cream maker according to instructions.
If you do not have an ice cream maker, I do not forgive you but, you can turn these into ice pops.