American Ice

They’re not quite ice cream, not quite sorbet, but these fruit creams taste a lot like both of them. We’re talking about American ices. They’re similar to French sorbets because they’re made with fresh fruit, and with no milk or eggs added, they are very low in fat (yogurt adds the touch of creaminess).

You won’t need an ice cream maker for these recipes, but a food processor is a necessity. Our ices are made predominantly of fruit, with relatively little fruit juice, so unlike sorbets they don’t need to be stirred during freezing to prevent crystallization. And since there isn’t much juice, the ripeness of the fruit is very important to the flavor.

Not much cooking goes into any of these fruit creams, except the poaching of the peaches for the Peach Ice. But the defrost button on the microwave will come in handy when the fruit is frozen a little too hard to pulse in the processor, as with frozen strawberries.

We prefer to serve these fruit creams right after making them, but if you want to refreeze them again, the defrost setting is useful if the creams are frozen too solid to be scooped out.

Kids of all ages will enjoy making and eating the Sorbet Sandwiches. You can even serve just the “sorbet” on cereal in the morning for a change of pace.

STRAWBERRY ICE

1 (16-ounce) bag frozen unsweetened strawberries

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

2 tablespoons orange liqueur or frozen orange juice

Place bag of frozen strawberries in microwave and heat on DEFROST until partially thawed, about 1 minute. Pour into bowl of food processor and process into small pieces by pulsing on and off. Add sugar, yogurt and liqueur and process until smooth. Serve immediately or freeze and serve later. Makes 8 servings.

PEACH ICE

2 tablespoons peach or other fruit liqueur

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 firm, ripe peaches, washed, halved and pitted

2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt

Combine liqueur, lemon juice and vanilla in 2-quart microwave-proof casserole. Stir to mix. Add peaches. Cover tightly with lid or plastic wrap, turned back slightly, and microwave on HIGH (100% power) 2 minutes.

Turn peaches over and rearrange. Cover again and microwave on HIGH until peaches are tender, 1 to 3 minutes more. Let stand few minutes. Reserve cooking juices and slip skins off peaches with sharp knife. Quarter each peach half and place pieces on plate. Place in freezer at least 1 hour to partially freeze.

Place frozen peach pieces, reserved cooking juices and yogurt in bowl of food processor and pulse on and off until smooth cream is formed. Serve immediately as soft cream or spoon into container and return to freezer until ready to use. Makes 3 servings.

CREAMY MANGO ICE

2 mangoes, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

2 tablespoons orange juice or orange liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place mango chunks on dish and place dish in freezer until fruit is partially frozen, about 1 hour. (If mango becomes frozen too hard, microwave 1 minute on DEFROST to thaw partially.)

Place partially frozen mango pieces in bowl of food processor, along with sugar, yogurt, orange juice and vanilla. Pulse on and off until smooth cream is formed. Serve immediately as soft cream or spoon into container and return to freezer for serving later. Makes 4 servings.

SORBET SANDWICHES

50 vanilla, chocolate or lemon wafers

1 cup Strawberry Ice

Line baking sheet with 25 wafers. Top each with 1 well-rounded teaspoon of Strawberry Ice. Press another wafer on top of each ice.

Freeze until set, at least 1 hour. At this time they may be transferred to freezer plastic food bag and returned to freezer. Keeps about 1 month. Makes 25 small sandwiches.