Why does coconut sorbet taste so rich, even without cream or eggs? Well, because there’s plenty of fat in the coconut milk itself. It’s one of the easiest sorbets in the world to make, thanks to the prevalence of decent canned coconut milk, but I like to give it a spark of heat, too. Eat this on its own, or with a cookie or other dessert of your choice. It goes especially well with chocolate. Remember that to make good ice cream with a machine that requires a prefrozen canister, you need to plan ahead and put the canister in the freezer at least 2 days before you’re going to make the ice cream. (I store mine there.)
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Pour the coconut milk into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and stir in the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, decrease the heat to low so that it is barely simmering, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the brown sugar is fully melted and the coconut milk is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chiles, cover, and remove from the heat. Let steep for an hour.
Step 2
Pour the coconut milk into a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the tequila. Cover with plastic wrap, transfer to the refrigerator, and let it thoroughly chill for several hours, preferably overnight.
Step 3
Once the mixture is very cold, fish out the chiles, then taste. If the sorbet base isn’t spicy enough for you, open up one of the chiles, scrape in a few of the seeds, and stir to combine. Transfer the cold sorbet base to an ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The sorbet can be stored frozen, covered in an airtight container, for a few weeks.
