Found Food: Cinnamon Plum Sorbet
It used to be that when we were out of food, we just ran out to the grocery store and refilled our pantry. Now it entails some serious planning and a check of the bank account balance before venturing out. As food prices continue to rise, those same trips are becoming intimidating. How do we find the food we need, provide good, balanced nutrition to our families, and fix them tasty, interesting meals without breaking the bank? We need to think outside of the box and get creative!
It is a wonderful time of year for “finding” food in different places. Farmers markets offer beautiful, local produce often at much better prices than the grocery store. Much of the produce has been just picked so it is much fresher than what you can get at the store, too! But we can get even more creative. The fruit trees are producing their goods. Plums, apples, pears and even apricots grow in Minnesota, where I am. If you have your own trees, all the better. But if you don’t, and you see a tree that is dropping fruit with no one collecting it, ask the owner. Chances are they will be grateful to have the fruit picked, eliminating a lot of the mess that the rotting fruit will create. Once again, you are eating local produce which in turns creates a much smaller carbon footprint. And it’s free!
My dear friend, Heather stopped by the other day with a huge basket of plums. Beautiful, fragrant and delicious. After picking through what seemed like tons of plums, I set about creating some recipes. A Plum crisp is in the making along with a tasty plum sauce. Heather is a big fan of sorbet so for her, I decided on Cinnamon Plum Sorbet. Plums love Cinnamon. Together make a delicious sorbet with flavor so lively it literally bursts on your tongue. You can substitute plums from the store if your friends are not dropping off bushels of plumbs for you. Make sure you just use the flesh from the inside of the plum as the skins are quite tart.
Cinnamon Plum Sorbet
SERVES 4
Sorbet
- 2 cups plum puree (the insides)
- 1/2 cup agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1 cup almond milk*
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into ice cream freezer and freeze according to ice cream maker’s directions.
Almond Milk
- 1 cup almonds, soaked at least 6 hours
- 4 cups filtered water
- 2 dates
- 1 vanilla bean
- Drain almonds from soaking water.
- Add to Vitamix with 4 cups of the filtered water, dates and vanilla bean.
- Process for 2 minutes.
- Strain through nutmilk bag. You can save the remaining pulp, dehydrate it and use it as flour for other recipes.
Kim wrote on June 5, 2013
How on earth did you manage to peel a ripe, raw plum?? Any tips?
Thanks.
ka
Susan wrote on June 5, 2013
I made this quite a long time ago but don’t remember having any problems. If it is super ripe, you could probably cut it in half and squeeze the insides out.
Louise Kavadlo wrote on December 17, 2012
I’d like to make your Rawmazing desserts and frozen desserts. However, I cannot have cacao because I’m badly allergic to chocolate. I use Rice Drink ( synonymous with rice milk ) and frozen fruits ( mangoes,pinedapple, bananas, berries, peaches, cantaloupe) . These come out like soft-serve ice cream which I must consume immediately. Sometimes I use the new Yonanas Ice cream maker which requiresw freezing fruits and putting them through the schute.
Susan wrote on December 17, 2012
As you can see, there are many desserts here that do not have cacao in them. 🙂
Louise kavadlo wrote on October 8, 2016
I have learning disabilities and I can only make very simple recipes. My desserts are usually Almond butter or peanut butter or Tahini based recipes made into walnut-sized balls. I make “Ice cream” using these ingredients: Rice milk or Amazake, frozen bananas or pears and berries, or peaches, or mangoes. I blenderize frozen fruits and still -freeze them. Amazake is fermented rice beverage and makes delicious, thick soft-serve ice cream using any kind of frozen fruits. It’s simpler than cashew nut based desserts ( for me). I have some dairy in my vegetarian diet.
Gracie wrote on November 4, 2012
Your pictures are soooooo beautiful!! You have a talent in the kitchen.
Susan wrote on November 4, 2012
Why, thank you, Gracie!
Eco Mama wrote on August 29, 2009
Beautiful!!!
Susan wrote on August 29, 2009
You could try pouring it into a pan and stir it occasionally with a fork as it froze…
Caleb wrote on August 29, 2009
If you don’t have an ice cream freezer do you think pouring them into ice cube trays would work?