Chilled Kumquat Soup with Vanilla Sorbet
The beautiful bright color of the soup, tiny kumquat slices, saturated orange taste, and creamy vanilla sorbet quenelle are an uptown version of that childhood favorite, the creamsicle.
Ingredients
- Vanilla Sorbet
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 cup
- Milk - 1 cup
- Corn Syrup - 1/3 cup
- Sugar - 1 ounce
- Vanilla bean - 1, split
- Kumquat Soup
- Orange Juice - 1 cup
- Arrowroot - 1 teaspoon
- Vanilla bean - 1, split
- Dry white wine - 3 cups
- Confectioner’s Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Lemongrass - 1/2 to 1-1/2-inch piece
- Kumquats - 20, thinly sliced
- Mint sprigs - 4
Instructions
To make the vanilla sorbet: Put all ingredients except the vanilla bean in a heavy saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture with the tip of a small knife, then drop in the vanilla bean pods. Bring the mixture to a boil. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and cool. Freeze to a soft stage in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions; do not freeze hard.
To make the soup: Mix 1 teaspoon of the orange juice with the arrowroot in a small bowl. Put the wine, sugar, lemongrass, and remaining orange juice in a large non-aluminum saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the wine mixture with the tip of a small knife, then drop in the vanilla bean pods. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the arrowroot. Bring the mixture back to a boil to thicken slightly. Put the sliced kumquats in a heatproof bowl and strain the hot mixture over them. Let cool.
To serve: Ladle the soup into four dessert bowls. Form quenelles from the vanilla sorbet and place one in each bowl. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
