Brownie Points

Looking to shake up our Friday routine, my workplace declared this Friday to be a fun picnic sort of day. We took our lunch outdoors and gave our drinks a twist by stirring them up with liquid nitrogen.

To allow our cocktails to be available both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, I made the drinks virgin and brought along a shaker of half tequila and half triple sec. Keeping the alcohol separate allows us to dress up each drink individually. However, in a serendipitous moment, my boss Monte brought in a bottle of Champagne today for us to toast the lab’s new research paper. Champagne sorbet floats part II! Just the sparkle our slushy Friday needed.

Our drinks, soon to be sorbet: a bottle of Santa Cruz Raspberry Lemonade -unadulterated, and a batch of guava puree mixed with orange juice, lime and a touch of simple syrup.

This Flickr set gives a photo journey of my lab making the liquid nitrogen sorbets, step by step.

I was initially afraid that the drinks would seize up into hard frozen chunks since I wasn’t using a sorbet recipe. They surprised me by behaving beautifully with the liquid nitrogen. Continuous stirring of the drinks results in a sorbet that’s as amazingly smooth as pudding.

Since these sorbets don’t need alcohol or excess sugar to act as antifreeze (theory outlined in Alton Brown’s Melon show: Melondrama) they can carry wonderfully subtle flavors that don’t get buried in sugar. In fact all you need is a favorite liquid and you can transport it directly into sorbet with no recipe tinkering.

if you have liquid nitrogen on hand that is. Not that you needed an excuse to befriend a scientist…

Liquid Nitrogen Guava Sorbet

In a sauce pan combine 1/4 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Boil for 2 minutes and allow to cool.

Combine sugar solution with:

• one thawed 14 oz pouch of Goya brand guava pulp
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• enough orange juice to bring concoction to a volume of four cups

Pour into a plastic or metal bowl and assemble your helpers and liquid nitrogen. You will need:

• one person to pour the liquid nitrogen
• one person wearing protective gloves to hold the bowl in place
• one person to stir
• approximately 1 liter of liquid nitrogen

While constantly stirring the fruit mixture, gradually pour the liquid nitrogen in directly on the fruit mixture a drizzle at a time.
The mixture will produce a lot of fog during the cooling process. Continue to drizzle in liquid nitrogen. Eventually the fruit mixture will thicken into a slush. Add liquid nitrogen until the mixture is too thick to stir.

Transfer into an air tight container or plastic bag and freeze till ready to eat.

Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Margaritas

single serving
In a cup scoop two servings of liquid nitrogen sorbet.
Pour over three tablespoons of tequila and one tablespoon of Triple Sec.
Gently stir and enjoy with a lime garnish and salt if desired.

More Great Frozen Recipes

• Seattle Orange Spice Tea Ice Cream: The tea kisses the ice cream with warm cinnamon and a light citrus hint, that I embellished with the addition of my recently made candied orange peels.
• Cantaloupe Sorbet with Green tea Ice Cream: I paired creamy homemade green tea ice cream with the soft sweet crunch of cantaloupe sorbet for my next flavor combo. The result is a perfect pair! The green tea ice cream tempers the sweetness of the melon sorbet and seems to highlight the honey flavor of the cantaloupe.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Tofu Ice Cream: The chocolate peanut butter variation won over my ice cream taste buds immediately! The tofu remains silky smooth in its chocolate embrace, and continues the illusion of a heavy cream base.
• Eternal Sunshine Frozen Honey Mousse (and Sunburn Salve): The chill on this dessert helps keep the sweetness of the honey from overwhelming the palate. This frozen mousse is ideal for creating an airy ice cream product without the aid of an ice cream maker. Its creamy sweetness is perfectly set in the tangy sweetness of raspberries or a simple raspberry sauce.
• Carbonated Ice Cream Experiments: What resulted is an incredible light fluffy ice cream that looks exactly like white bread! I think it has a bit of carbonation to it, but its a little difficult to tell. The ice cream’s look and texture in my mouth is the most exciting part of this experiment.
• Mango lassi Layered with Poison Oak Honey Date Ice Cream: This final creation combines the icey tanginess of mango lassi with the smooth sweet creaminess of honey date ice cream. The mango tartness cuts into the sweet ice cream, and the slushy consistency of the lassi is a nice compliment to the creamy honey.
  

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