Last summer my partner purchased a Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Attachment which we used last summer many times to create sorbet.  This summer, we are going to publish several of the recipes we’ve been using.  Most of the recipes we found in the Kitchen Aid book, which came with the Ice Cream Attachment.  However, the Strawberry Rhubarb recipe came from an LA Times blog post.

The recipe they posted:

Total time: 20 minutes, plus freezing time

Servings: Makes 1 1/2 quarts

Note: Adapted from David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop.” If your rhubarb stalks are more than an inch wide, slice them in half lengthwise.

3/4 pound rhubarb (5 or 6 thin stalks), trimmed

3/4 cup sugar

10 ounces fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces. In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, bring the rhubarb, two-thirds cup water and the sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rhubarb is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

2. Slice the strawberries and purée them in a blender or food processor with the cooked rhubarb mixture and lemon juice until smooth.

3. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Credit:Recipe from http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-calcookrec9aapr09,0,3067664.story

For the two photographs, first is the shot of the sorbet itself.

This shot was taken with a Canon t1i, 50mm 1.4f lens, and a Canon 580 EXii speedlite.  The shot was edited in Lightroom 3.0.  The shot was taken at ISO 200, f2.2, at 1/200th of a second.  The flash has a Gary Fong Collapsable Lightsphere diffuser on it. I was also using a reflector and direct overhead light.

This photo shows the setup:

I should just mention that the sorbet is wonderful & was clearly starting to melt as I took both shots (it’s warm outside, which makes the sorbet that much better).

Almost my entire growing up life, I had Christmas dinner with some good family friends.  We have adopted the parents as ‘Aunt’ & ‘Uncle.’  So, it is no surprise to share that we have a long history of joking back and forth with one another.  This story is about the father of this family & the famous Carrot Ring.  For this sake of this story, we’ll call him Uncle T.
As long as I can remember, Uncle T has made most of Christmas dinner.  It has always included the Carrot Ring.  The dish itself is made with lots of butter (see recipe below).  However, the ‘story’ part is that every year there’s a big debate about how the Carrot Ring will come out of the pan.  The ring itself is cooked in a bundt pan.  More than not, when the bundt pan is flipped upside down and the cake plops out on a plate, parts of the cake don’t come out right.  Typically part of the cake (as much as half of the cake) will stick to the pan.  Or, it will come out and break on it’s way out.  Any which way, this is a great topic to tease Uncle T about.  The conversation might even start in July – talking about the Christmas dinner this year and if the Carrot Ring will be in good shape or not.

A few Christmas’ ago, my mother typed up a book of famous family recipes.  In this book is the Carrot Ring recipe.  My edition of the book was even autographed by Uncle T himself!  He wrote an inscription that reads: “Good luck in getting it out of the pan!”

This year, I am now a proud owner of a bundt pan.  Yes, a bundt pan. So, I decided to make said Carrot Ring.
Here’s Big Bertha (our Kitchen Aid Mixer) and the Carrots – before the action starts. (iPhone image & processed in Instagram)

Here’s Bertha chomping away at the cake mixture (pre-egg white folding). (iPhone image)

Here’s me using a hand mixer to beat the egg whites till firm.  (iPhone image)  I went off of the Jamie Oliver method of beating the egg whites.  ”Beat till you can hold the bowl over your head – then they are firm.”

Both of these shots are taken with the Canon t1i & the 50mm 1.4 lens.  I also used two flashes for both shots (new technology for me).  The first shot is ISO 400 f4.5 at 1/45 sec.  The second shot is  ISO 400 f4.5 at 1/200 sec.

And the recipe: [Edit: The Recipe was removed because of copyright concerns]