Kiwi, Lime, & Mint Sorbet with Raspberry Sauce in a Cookie Cup

 

I recently received another oh-so-amazing and damn-I’m-lucky shipment of Zespri Kiwi.  However, this time I was sent a box of Zespri Gold Kiwifruit:

 

 

You may recall a few weeks back they sent me a shipment of their green kiwis which I used to make the Malibu Rum Glazed Kiwi & Coconut Cake:

 

 

And seriously not trying to brag but check out the goodies they sent along with the gold kiwi...I didn't even want to share with my kid. Horrible mother I am. 

The Zespri Gold Kiwifruit is a totally unique and one-of-a-kind type of kiwi.  It was bred from one seedling planted in 1992!  From that single vine grew 4,000 hectares of Zespri Gold Kiwi worldwide.

 

And this may look like a kiwi, but the taste is nothing what you would expect.  First they are much softer and sweeter than your average green kiwi (and I found easier to peel).  But the tastiest surprise was they have a tropical undertone; a sweetness almost like a pineapple.  Total Bahama-Mama party for taste buds.

Kiwi’s are one of my top favorite Super Foods.  They are LOADED with Vitamin C (almost twice as much as an orange, who knew?!) and 3 more times than a lemon!  They are also filled to the brim with antioxidants (your skin with thank you) and are rich in fiber too (think more fiber than 4 stalks of celery…and who wants to eat celery?!?)  And if you’re looking to add more potassium to your diet, kiwis have almost as much as one banana.  All that goodness in one cute, fuzzy lil kiwi, amazing.

 

The idea for this recipe actually came from my husband.  Shocking, since you can label him as Mr. 'I-would-only-eat-from-cans-if-it-wasn’t-for-my-wife.’  I sliced him up a gold kiwi shortly after they were delivered and he said ‘wow this is the best kiwi ever’ (promise I’m not just saying that to be nice) and then goes on to say, ‘but they would be even better frozen, like in a cocktail.’  Well, yeh I agree but I’m 5 months pregnant so that wasn’t going to work.  So the next best thing to happy hour is sorbet.  And with the gold kiwi’s being so sweet, a sorbet would for sure be a hit.

 

And if you’re a reader of my blog, you know I either go big or go home, so I wasn’t going to stop at a cute little scoop of sorbet, that’s a bit too dainty even for me.  I also knew the sorbet would need a brightly contrasting sauce since the color of the kiwi’s are a pale yellow.   Then, why not finish it off with an edible bowl, since you know cones are soooo last season.

 

 

Kiwi, Lime, & Mint Sorbet with Raspberry Sauce in a Cookie Cup

makes 8 servings

printable version

 

Ingredients

For the Sorbet:

12 Zespri Gold Kiwifruit, peeled and coarsely chopped

2-3 tablespoons lime juice (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons mint (or more if you prefer), coarsely chopped

1 cup water

¾ cup sugar 

 

For the Raspberry Sauce:

One (15 ounce) package frozen or fresh raspberries *a slightly larger package is okay, it won’t impact the flavor and you can always add more sugar to taste

1/3 cup granulated sugar

 

For the Cookie Cups:

1/4 cup Butter flavored Crisco*
1/4 cup butter, room temperature*
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1½ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup crushed McVitie's HobNob cookies (or anything similar…you can also leave it out all together)

 

*no substitutions for the Butter flavored Crisco or the butter.  You can't sub one for the other; the recipe requires both.  If you use all butter, the cups will spread too much during baking.  If you use all Crisco, that won't taste good either, plus it helps make the cups easier to form.  I am not a fan of Crisco but for this recipe it works AND tastes good, promise.

 

Directions

Before starting the sorbet, prepare a simple syrup using the water and sugar.  Mix together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes or until it thickens and no granules of sugar are left.
 
Transfer to a measuring cup with a spout and refrigerate to take the heat off.  It doesn't have to be very cold, but don't use it hot.
 

 

Add the kiwi, lime juice, and mint to the bowl of a food processor.  Process until smooth and no chunks of kiwi remain (I think a blender would work great too).

 

Slowly pour the simple syrup down the tube of your food processor and blend until combined, about 5-10 seconds.

 

 

Transfer mixture to a loaf pan.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and freeze for about 1 hour.

 

 

Remove pan from freezer.  At this point the sorbet will be semi-solid.  Give it a good stir and place back in the freezer until firm, about 2-3 hours.

 

 

Meanwhile, to prepare the cookie cups, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.   Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand up mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 

 

Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.

 

 

Place a sieve over the mixer bowl and sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder.

 

 

Place a kitchen towel over your mixer (to help avoid flour flying everywhere) and mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Do not over-mix.

 

Add the cookie crumbles and mix to combine.

 

 

Form dough into disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least an hour to firm up. 

 

 

Take two standard sized cupcake pans and turn them upside down.  Cover every other one with foil.

 

*The original recipe said to roll out the dough and cut into circles to form the cups over the muffin tin.  I tried this but my dough was way too sticky.  In Dubai the temp has been almost 110F with 80% humidity, so this could have been a factor.  In any case, my cups still worked by taking a portion of dough a little larger than a golf ball and pressing/forming it around the muffin tin, smoothing the sides and top.  I think either method will work just fine.

 

 

 

Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden brown.  Let the pans cool for 5 minutes.  Gently remove the cups from the pan.  If you find one of the sides is stuck, gently use a sharp knife to help remove.  

 

 You’ll see here that a portion of my aluminum foil baked into the cup…don’t worry if this happens it’s an easy fix!  Gently take a sharp knife and pull the foil out (it shouldn’t tear and will easily come out).  However you must do this asap, do not wait for the cups to cool!!!  They are still soft at this point and somewhat pliable.  If you wait to do this step after they cool the cups could break.  Gently remove all the foil. 

 

 

Leave the cups to finish cooling on a wire rack.

 

 

To prepare the raspberry sauce, place frozen raspberries in a medium sized fry pan over medium heat and cook until defrosted.  *If using fresh berries, you can add the sugar right away.

 Once the berries start to break down, add the sugar.

 

Cook until the mixture begins to thicken, about 3-4 minutes.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. 

 

Remove berries from heat.  Place a fine sieve over a bowl and transfer berries to sieve.  Using a small spoon or spatula, press the mixture through the sieve.  You want to remove all the seeds from the sauce.  Be sure to scrape the underneath of the sieve as sauce will accumulate there.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

 

 
To assemble, use an ice cream scoop to scrape out the sorbet from the pan.  About two scoops will fit inside the cookie cup.  Pour the raspberry sauce and top with fresh kiwi.

Enjoy!

 

 Cookie Cup recipe adapted from Coleen's Recipes