Lemon Sorbet with Asian Pears!

Summer isn't over just yet! Not until I say so... okay well maybe I have absolutely no control over that but I'd like to think I do. So while I still have the summer warmth around, I'm going to play with my ice cream maker just a tad more before it goes back into storage.

Since it seems that lately all I make are desserts, I thought I'd tone the "bad" stuff back down and do a lighter dessert this time around. Lemon sorbet sounds like a refreshing treat.

Actually what drove this was my friend's mom giving me a ton of delicious Asian pears! I can only eat so many... so I thought it was time to use some for my experiments as well. This one was hard to think of, Asian pears are not really meant to be cooked and so baking was more or less out of the question. Making a crispy pear mushy is anything but tasty. 

Let me tell you it is a horrible idea to be thinking of things like what to do with Asian pears when you're about to fall asleep because during the off chance that you get a great idea, you end up being too excited to actually fall asleep (clearly my love for food is too great and so even the ideas excite me...). So after a somewhat less restful night, I came up with the idea of combining little chunks of Asian pears into a sorbet of some sort. I decided lemon seemed best fit for the task. 

For something as simple as a sorbet, I sure made a nice mess while making it. One way to test the acidity of the lemon, get some onto your shirt and then let it bleach little specks onto it, which is exactly what happened. Now my t-shirt has a nice tie-dye effect thanks to the random juice flying all over the place when I was trying to squeeze the life out of the lemon (or perhaps it was taking the life out of my hands, who knows). Times like these I wish I wasn't so lazy to take out my juicer...but I am so I suffer the consequences. Oh well... at least it was just one of those raggedy t-shirts I wear around the house.

In the end it was all worth it! If you love lemony anything, this will for sure make your mouth water and if you accidentally eat the whole thing, good news, its not as damaging as say...an entire pint of ice cream. As the ice cream maker is churning away, already you get hit with the lemon, citrus fruit aroma. The Greek yogurt gives it a creamier texture and little chunks of Asian pears gives it a nice bite. A cool, light summer dessert to enjoy indeed.

You can even make it a little bit more exciting by adding a splash of vodka or limoncello to the mix.

Lemon Sorbet with Asian Pear
adapted from Taste of Home: Lemon Sorbet
Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 4-6 oz plain Greek yogurt
•  lemon zest (optional)
• 1 Asian pear, diced into little chuncks

Procedures:

1. In a small sauce pan over medium, cook and stir sugar and water until mixture comes to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 2 more minutes (uncovered). Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
2. Stir in lemon juice, zest, pears, and yogurt and freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions (approximately 30-35 minutes for me). Transfer to freezer container and freeze for an additional 4 hours before serving.