Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [290]
1. Put the lemon ice cream in a bowl, and break it up with a spoon. Add half the strawberry puree, beating it into the ice cream with a whisk.
2. Add half the sparkling wine, briefly whipping it in with the whisk.
3. Add the remaining puree and wine, beating them in to form a soft, foamy mixture. Do not work it too long or it will become too liquid.
4. Pour the sgroppino into glass coupes, individual dessert bowls, or wide-mouthed stemmed glasses, and serve at once.
Frozen Tangerine Shells Filled with Tangerine Sorbet
For 6 to 8 servings
FOR THE TANGERINE SHELLS
6 large or 8 small tangerines with unblemished, intact skins
1. Wash the tangerines in cold water. Neatly slice off their tops in one piece, leaving enough of an opening for you to extract the fruit, and later to stuff the shell. Set the tops aside. With your fingers, pull out all the fruit sections, working carefully in order not to tear the fragile tangerine rind. Part of the fruit may be pressed to provide the juice needed for the ice, or you can add it to a macedonia, or simply eat it as is.
2. Put the hollowed-out shells and their tops in the freezer. Freeze for at least 2 hours or for as long as you need to until you are ready to use them.
FOR THE TANGERINE SORBET
1 cup granulated sugar
The peels of ½ orange and ½ lemon grated without digging into the white pith beneath
The freshly squeezed juice of 2 large or 4 small tangerines, 1 large or 2 small oranges, and 1 lemon
1 egg white
An ice-cream maker
3 tablespoons rum
1. Put the sugar and 1 cup water into a small saucepan, turn on the heat to medium, and stir from time to time until the sugar has melted. Pour the syrup into a bowl.
2. Add the grated orange and lemon peels, and the tangerine, orange, and lemon juices to the bowl, and mix well with the syrup. Allow the mixture to become completely cold.
3. Lightly beat the egg white until it begins to foam, then stir it into the mixture in the bowl.
4. Pour the mixture into the container of your ice-cream maker, and freeze it following the manufacturer’s instructions. When done, transfer it to a tight-sealing container, stir in the rum, distributing it thoroughly, close the container, and place it in the freezer for 1 hour or even much longer, until you are ready to fill the tangerine shells and serve them.
FILLING THE TANGERINE SHELLS
2 bright, unblemished fresh mint leaves for every tangerine
1. Take out the frozen tangerine shells and their tops.
2. Take the tangerine sorbet out of the freezer and stir to redistribute some of the rum that may have separated from it. Spoon the sorbet into the hollowed-out shells. There should be enough sorbet in each shell to come up slightly above the rim.
3. Place 2 mint leaves on each sorbet, with their tips draped over the edge of the frozen shell. Put the tops over the shells, setting them slightly askew, to show both the mint and some of the sorbet.
4. Return the filled shells to the freezer, and serve after 45 minutes.
Granita—Coffee Ice with Whipped Cream
Granita di caffè con panna was the most welcome sign that Italian cafés used to put out in summer. On an afternoon slowed down by the southern sun, it was one of the best ways to while away the time, watching life dawdle by as you let the granita’s crystals melt on the tongue, spoonful by spoonful, until the roof of your mouth felt like an ice cavern pervaded by the aroma of strong coffee. Unfortunately and inexplicably, granita has largely disappeared. You can easily make it at home, however, and with the food processor it is even easier to do than it used to be.
For 6 to 8 servings
1½ cups very strong espresso coffee, more concentrated than you would usually make it
1 tablespoon sugar or more, to taste, plus 2 teaspoons sugar
A bowl kept in the freezer
1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream
1. Make the coffee and while