Pear Sorbet

By Talk2usoon

First time I made this I ran to my neighbors with samples... I couldn't WAIT to share it!

Ingredients

• 4 large VERY ripe Bartlett pears* (about 2 pounds total) peeled, halved, and cored
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons pear brandy (but I couldn't find any and used Peach Schnapp's) You can't detect the alcohol in the finished recipe.

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium-sized saucepan. combine the pears with the sugar, the lemon juice, and ¼ cup water. Cook over low heat just until pears are soft, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the liqueur, then let cool. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and puree, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled.

Freeze the mixture in a ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions OR if not using an ice cream maker, place chilled mixture in a stainless steel or other metal baking pan, cover with plasticwrap and freeze until softly set, about 2 hours. Transfer the partially frozen mixture to a food processor and process until smooth an fluffy (about 10 seconds.) Return the miture to a baking pan, freeze until half-set and repeat the process.
After the second blending, transfer to a plastic container. To prevent ice crystals from forming, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the sorbet before putting the lid on the container. Store in freezer until the sorbet is solid, about 4 hours.

Remove the sorbet from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Serve the sorbet in chilled stemmed glasses.

*I buy my pears when they are very firm and green and keep them on the counter in a paper bag for about 3 days (checking them each day). As soon as they are ripe take them out of the bag and store them in the fridge. The riper the pear the sweeter the taste and aroma.