It was Thursday night and I wasn’t prepared. I worked extra hours all week so I could leave early for the four and a half hour drive to Pennsylvania and the Big Summer Potluck. I was exhausted and not done packing and cursing myself for not figuring out what I was making sooner. I was rushing. And that’s when I realized I missed a step.
I was making my Raspberry Mojito Sorbet which I had prepped and chilled before dinner. It was now after 8:00 PM and I poured about one third of the mixture into the ice cream maker attachment on my stand mixer, making a sloppy mess in the process. As I wiped the spill, I noticed all those raspberry seeds. I forgot to strain it. Crap.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the ice cream maker attachment, but it is a lot harder to grip than the regular mixing bowl.
And in my haste to remove it from the stand, I lost my grip and sent cold, sweet, sticky, boozy pureed raspberry sailing. It sloshed onto the stand, onto the counter and under the stand, into the sink, down my cabinets, across the floor and all over my pajamas and slippers.
I squealed as the cold wet mess hit my body. Then I groaned and swore. I called myself an idiot. A clumsy idiot. From the other room, my husband asked what was going on and I said it looked like a crime scene in here. I stood there dumb and unmoving, trying to figure out how to start cleaning it up without making it worse. The dog came in the room and started slurping the mess up. I grabbed towels and got started trying to clean and prevent a wicked doggie hangover. I think I sniffled just a bit as I washed every surface, including the kitchen floor down on my hands and knees.
At 9:37 PM, I collapsed on the couch. My bag was mostly packed. My kitchen was as clean as it was going to get. There was still enough sorbet to freeze, the washer & dryer were humming, and I was wearing dry pajamas.
The next day at the lovely Anderson home, after an awesome Mexican dinner, the sorbet was a welcome treat. I served it up and shared smiles with friends old and new. I saved the very last cup of sorbet for myself. I sat down to enjoy it and forgot all about the chaos of the night before. And then I noticed the freshly drizzled red streak of sorbet down my pants. And I laughed!
Raspberry Mojito Sorbet, Revised I realized while making this recipe and octupling it that my own words weren’t clear enough in the original. Try this version, and whatever you do, strain the mixture before you freeze it. (Is octupling a word?) 1/2 cup sugar In a small saucepan, heat the sugar with 1/2 cup of water over medium heat. Reserve a few mint leaves. Place the rest of the mint, stems and all, into the sugar and water mixture to steep. Heat until the sugar disolves and let cool. Remove the mint stems. Add the lime juice and zest to the sugar mixture. Mix the raspberries with 1/4 cup of water in a blender. Chop the reserved mint leaves fine and add to the raspberries. Add the rum and the sugar mixture and blend just till combined. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Strain the mixture before pouring into the bowl of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to ice cream maker’s instructions and then place in a resealable container in the freezer until mostly firm. The alcohol will keep the sorbet from freezing as firm as a regular sorbet. Serve with lime wedges on the side or more fresh raspberries. Recipe can be doubled or tripled, but if you octuple it, you will probably need to freeze it in separate batches.
Small bunch of mint leaves
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 small limes, zested and juiced
1/2 cup rum ( I used Bacardi Superior)
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Too funny. You hid the red streak on your pants very well. I never noticed. This concoction was incredible and especially welcome in the hot weather we had while at BSP2. Kitchen disasters make for great stories. Hard to remember that while in the moment but everyone has had a day like that.
Thanks, Wendy! I’m glad you liked it and I figured I might as well get started right away bringing the mess to my blog posts.
That sounds delicious! I’m definitely going to make that! Sorry about the big mess — why does that always happen when we are in a hurry or really, really tired?! I guess no time would ever be a good time for that, though.
Andrea, it is really refreshing. I hope you like it! The worst part of this kind of mess is worrying about whether you cleaned up every last sugary drop so it doesn’t attract ants. Eww.
That sorbet was delicious. Sorry you had to go through such a mess. Good for you for telling the messy story- no pictures of the crime scene?
No pictures this time. I probably would have except I was too sticky & messy myself to touch the camera!
This is exactly the type of thing that I would do! In fact, I think the reason I’m scared of my blender is because of a similar incident involving frozen margaritas! The sorbet was delicious!!
That sorbet was amazing… Thank you so much for going through everything to get it to us! And, you know the bright side? I bet you had a squeaky clean kitchen when you came home after all that scrubbing!
I just laughed out loud!! Thanks for sharing your story!! The sorbet WAS in fact a welcome treat! The color and texture were brilliant!
I do believe you added a lot of extra booze to compensate, Jennifer, ’cause that mojito PACKED A PUNCH! In a good way, of course.
And, as if in solidarity with the messy you, I dribbled the pretty red scrumptiousness on my white pants.
You are cute as Christmas! You’re sorbet was amazing! So fun to see your sun shiny self at BSP…wish we could have chatted more!
Haha! Oh Jennifer, you are just too darn cute. It was so lovely to see you and chat with you at BSP this year! And, the sorbet was absolutely refreshing…I definitely went for seconds!
Always happens when we’re in a hurry! Thanks for sharing both the story and the delicious treat. It was yummy
Oh no! The sorbet was such a beautful bright red color too! I’ve dropped many things in the kitchen too, so you’re not alone. And the sorbet was awesome!
And doesn’t it seem that what spills all over the floors is a lot more in volume than what was in the container it spilled from? That happened to me with lemonade and a pitcher handle that broke off. I swear there was lemonade in my mailbox!
I’m glad you posted this recipe since I missed it at bsp2, and right now,o ooh I want some. Great summer treat, thanks!
To be able to laugh at oneself is a gift we give to ourselves. Boy, does that look good!!!!!!
{ 4 trackbacks }