so, heat wave. again. by which i mean, i think summer is always just hot and somewhere around the 47^th shovelful of snow, we manage to forget this every year. and then we’re surprised every. single. time. when it gets hot again (like always).

it’s a new theory i’m working on, in between bites of the most intensely chocolaty, frozen-and-refreshing-but-not-icerock-hard, spicy chocolate truffle sorbet.

see, here’s the thing: i love chocolate. and ice cream. yet i generally hate chocolate ice cream. like its melted cousin, chocolate milk, neither chocolate ice cream nor chocolate milk have nearly enough chocolate flavor for me. when i make hot chocolate in the winter, you can nearly stand a spoon up in it, it’s so thick and chocolaty.

so naturally, now that it’s hot out (surprise!), i want an intensely chocolaty *frozen* dessert. cool. refreshing. not just barely chocolate flavored.

in terms of intense chocolate flavor, the cinnamon double chocolate cookies i posted a few months back are certainly suitable. no matter how much i love them, however, we are not turning the oven on, oh no. we’re in a heat wave, haven’t you heard?

those cookies served as my inspiration, though, and i basically just lifted the spices (cinnamon and cayenne) directly from that cookie recipe and plunked them down in (an ever so slightly modified version of) david lebovitz’s chocolate sorbet recipe.

and basically instantly knew that i had found what i was after when i couldn’t stop eating spoonfuls of the mixture before it even hit the ice cream maker. (that’s basically my litmus test: does this future ice cream taste good enough as lukewarm soup so as to justify spinning it in the ice cream maker for 30+ minutes? here, a clear yes.)

several of the sites that i found with this recipe remarked on how scoopable and non-icy the sorbet is, even straight from the freezer after it’s been in there for a few days. and it’s all true. should your container of spicy chocolate truffle sorbet manage to last more than a few days, you need not fear that it will get icy and generally less good as it waits patiently for your next chocolate craving.

though i sort of suspect that once you have a container of this in your freezer, heat wave or no, it won’t be there for too terribly long…

spicy chocolate truffle sorbet

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Ingredients

2 ¼ cups (18 oz. / 532 ml) water, divided
198 g. (1 cup / 7 oz.) granulated sugar
75 g. (between ¾ and 1 cup / 2 5/8 oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder (see notes)
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne
170 g. (6 oz.) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (see notes)
½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

at least 24 hours in advance

if you are using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to let the empty canister chill in the freezer for at least 24 and ideally 48 hours before you put it to use making delicious treats.

at least 3, ideally more, hours before you make the sorbet

combine 1 ½ cups (355 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa, and spices in a large saucepan. whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for 45 seconds.
remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate. keep stirring until all of the chocolate is melted, then add the vanilla and remaining ¾ cup (177 ml) of water.
carefully transfer the mixture to a blender and work up from low to high speed (to help prevent an eruption), then blend at high speed for 15 seconds.
transfer the liquid to an airtight container and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator. (my batch took just under 3 hours to chill in a wide, flat plastic container.) the mixture will likely turn to a pudding-like consistency as it chills.

when you're ready to make the sorbet

if possible, set your ice cream maker up in a cool(er) room. pour/use a spatula to transfer the mixture into your frozen ice cream maker canister and process according to the manufacturer’s directions. i ran it through my machine for 35 minutes.
once it’s done in the machine, transfer the sorbet to an airtight, wide, flat, non-glass container (all of this is so that it will freeze as quickly as possible, which means the ice crystals that form will be smaller). put in the coldest part of your freezer for a few hours until it reaches the desired consistency. serve frequently.

Notes

cocoa powder you may use either natural or dutch-process (i used natural because that’s what i had on hand).

chocolate just fyi, i used baker’s 66% bittersweet chocolate, proving you don’t absolutely have to use fancy chocolate for this to be good. if dairy free is important to you, be sure to check the label!

adapted from david lebovitz’s chocolate sorbet recipe, which was first published in his cookbook the perfect scoop but that i found on food 52’s website.

Category dairy free desserts gluten free summer vegan vegetarian