Concord Grape Sorbet

With the grape harvest rapidly approaching, it makes sense to find a use for these delicious grapes, commonly referred as "Foxy", due to their musky flavor, particularly in fermented products. If you're planning on making grape preserves, it's best to start this recipe at the very beginning of the day, and update it as you go along. When all the mason jars have been pulled from their water bath, you'll have this delicious frozen treat waiting for you after a long day's work.

Ingredients:
2 quarts concord grapes, stemmed
1/2 cup sugar
Juice from one lemon
1 Tbs white rum (Optional)

After washing and de-stemming all the grapes, separate the grapes into 2 or 3 batches, and add each batch to blender. Blend each batch at high speed until broken down, pour the mixture through a strainer, removing all the grape solids. Repeat for all batches. You should have about 2 cups of raw grape juice.

Add sugar, lemon and rum (optional) to the grape juice, mixing well until the sugar is dissolved.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Add the grape mixture to a 2 quart ice cream maker, and mix according to the manufacturers instructions.

Once the sorbet has properly set, remove from the ice cream maker, and transfer to a freezer safe vessel. Cover, and let freeze for at least 2 more hours.

Notes:
Although this recipe is designed for a 2 Qt ice cream maker, it only makes about 3/4 of a quart of sorbet, -a larger cooling surface is required to quickly freeze the juice, and reduce the formation of ice crystals, resulting in a silky smooth mouth feel. If you have a larger ice cream maker, feel free to increase the recipe accordingly, remembering that your final product should be no more than 1/2 the capacity of the ice cream maker.

The rum's sole purpose is to lower the freezing point of the sorbet, thereby improving the texture.

To make Grape Lime Ricky Sorbet, eliminate lemon, but increase to juice from 3 limes.

Grapes are FULL of pectin, so the time in the fridge is absolutely necessary. The sugar will bind up some of the water, and allow the pectin to create a stiffer grape gel. This helps to create a smooth sorbet.