Anyone in South Florida can tell you this time of year is Mango season. June to September trees are full of big gorgeous mangoes. First green and then turning gold and red when they are ready. If you are lucky enough to know someone with a tree, you can score a bag since they always seem to ripen at the same time. Once they are ripe they won’t last long so as delicious as they are on their own you need to be inventive and find ways to use them so they last longer. In the past I’ve made mango smoothies, muffins, chutneys and sauces but I was looking for something different this year.
Going through shelves of collected cook books, I came across a book bought at a garage sale for $1.00 called Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt by Mable & Gar Hoffman. This book is a little out dated without the new funky flavors that some cutting edge creameries are dreaming up like dark chocolate sesame, lemon cardamom or ricotta honey. The recipes are interesting though and were probably cutting edge back in 2000 when the book was published. Coconut vanilla vudding, maple peach and apple calvados are just a few. I saw a recipe for Mango sorbet and almost passed it by when I noticed one of the ingredients is Grand Marnier. I have a weak spot for anything “Grand Marnier” so I figured I’d give it a try. The recipe is very simple and the finished sorbet is a glossy orange color and tastes so sweet and tropical. The recipe is below so even if you don’t score that bag of mangoes from a friend please give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it! I doubled the recipe and have enough in my freezer for at least a month!
Mango Sorbet
3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 large ripe mangoes
1 cup orange juice
½ cup Grand Marnier
In a medium saucepan combine water, sugar and corn syrup. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, set aside to cool. Peel and cut mangoes and puree in food processor with orange juice. Combine puree with cooled syrup then add liquor. You can freeze in an ice cream maker or just an air tight container in the freezer overnight.
I could not resist the urge to taste the sorbet when it was just slushy and it made a fantastic cocktail with an added shot of gold rum - Mango Madness !