Years and years ago – Rob and I had our first meal at Picholine in NYC. The meal was awesome, but the chocolate sorbet was sublime. We became somewhat friendly with the chef, Terrance Brennan, because my mom is terrifically chatty and loves discussing food and meeting new people. By our 5th visit, she told the chef that she was from Boston, that I worked as a pastry cook in NYC, and that we love the sorbet – and wow, can we please have the recipe? He smiled indulgently and listed a few ingredients (those common in chocolate sorbet!) No measurements, no method. I wrote them down – water, chocolate, cocoa and sugar – determined that one day I would fiddle and play and make Rob very happy (since he can’t eat ice cream – and loves chocolate). I’ve tried over the years, taking notes and comparing recipes from all my books and today, I think it is done! I do. This sorbet is rich, dark, chocolaty, and intense. Fresh out of the machine…ridiculous. Seriously. I used Valrhona cocoa powder and I do think that it makes a difference – so go all out (with a high quality natural cocoa powder) if you decide to make it. Oh, and Rob loved it. Loves it. Next time I might let the kids try it – and certainly my parents when they come for a visit!
Note that this sorbet is lovely the day you make it – soft and delicious. But it does firm up very hard over night. So remember to pull from the freezer a solid 20 minutes before you serve – or place in fridge for a gentler softening for a bit longer.
dark chocolate sorbet:
2 1/3 cups water
8 oz sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
6 oz bittersweet chocolate – coarsely chopped
4 oz natural cocoa powder (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Stir and heat the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth and set aside to cool.
Melt the chocolate in bowl over a pot of barely simmering water (or a double boiler). Melt the chocolate gently. Remove from heat when a few chunks remain – and stir to complete the melting process. You do not want this to get too hot. Set aside to cool.
Let the chocolate and the water, sugar, cocoa mixture sit at room temp to cool. Let cool for about 30 minutes or so.
Slowly add a little bit of liquid to the cooled chocolate and whisk to incorporate. Really just a little. Add little by little and really go carefully here so that you don’t break the chocolate.
Once all of it has been added – whisk in the salt and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Run in your ice cream machine and oh…soooo good. Enjoy-
