As mentioned in previous posts, I am a lover--and baker--of all things desserts. I can remember baking my first "from scratch" cake at the age of 9, the first time I was allowed to use the stove and everything all by myself. It's a good story: when I asked my mother for an "Easy Bake Oven," she promptly got to work showing me how to use the big oven we had in the kitchen. I am grateful for this, for many reasons, mostly the fact that it started me on a path that led me here. Also, have you ever had anything cooked in an easy-bake oven? (Edit: I just heard that the Easy Bake Oven got a face-lift, a structural redesign and a new marketing ploy...so really I'm talking the "lets half-cook with a light bulb" Easy Bake Ovens of the last 50 years).
I have a few friends (or as I like to call non-believers) that don't like desserts. Some family say that they don't care for sweets, and others are diabetic. In my experience, the successful type of desserts in the middle of that crazy Venn-diagram are fruit-based. The challenge, most of the time, is to highlight the fruit, keep it as close to it's natural form as possible, while making it sweet-but-not-too-sweet and inviting.
The simple answer, which I'm sure most people would give to this challenge is simply: "pie." Sure, make a few fruit pies and keep moving. However, that's not always the easiest answer. You can only make your loved ones a handful of pies before they plead for something different: a particular fruit pie they want is out of season, or what if they somehow become one of those demons that have taken over a flesh-suit of a human-being, or a soulless vampire that stalks the night and states that they do not like pie? Perish the thought, but these anti-pie "people" do roam the earth.
I have come up with a few answers. Sorbets are nice during the summer, as is a quick strawberry ice cream. I like to suggest the former, as sorbet can be made without an ice cream freezer in most cases. I personally do not like parfaits/trifles, but I've always considered those either regional or "love 'em or hate 'em" type foods.
Last Sunday, for the cookout (mentioned briefly in "Empanadas!"), I had such an occasion come up, where I wanted to bring a regular dessert and one fruit-based for a friend.
Although I have no pictures (no time man, no time!), I'll tell you about my adventure in pineapple sorbet. I simply pureed pineapple, sugar, and lemon juice together in a food processor. I added some lime juice too, as I ran out of lemons. After pureeing, I threw it the ice cream maker. The drum hadn't been in the freezer long enough so the sorbet wasn't fully hardening--I had to put the whole slurry in the icebox overnight. From what I was told, it still came out well and tasted great--light and sweet with a citrus kick at the end.
The first foray in pineapple sorbet making was mediocre at best--I tried using less sugar than traditional recipes call for, adding water, and not fully liquefying the pineapple. The result turned out to be lumpy, watery (no surprise there), and tasteless. I think the freezing process takes out the taste of the natural sugars in the pineapples, so you need the added sugar to give it a bump.
I have a few other fruit tricks up my sleeve, depending on the season and the fruit available. However, I am always looking for new recipes as well--feel free to leave me a suggestion!
I now reward you for sticking through to the end with this ad by Jim Henson for Easy Bake Ovens circa 1968:
**Did anyone else feel like they were staring at a young "Peggy Olson" from Mad Men?
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