This isn't an unusual combination for salads (and if you haven't tried it, you should) and I always have an eye out for interesting possibilities for sorbets and ice creams. And interesting this did turn out to be.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded
2 medium carambola, peeled as best you can and seeded (which is easier than you'd expect if you don't mind unsightly shredded results)
5 fluid ounces sugar (I used a not-fully refined sugar with a bit of molasses still in it)
5 fluid ounces water
1 pinch salt
juice from one thick lime wedge
1 Tablespoon light rum
1. Purée the tomato and carambola. I ended up with about 2 cups worth so I scaled the other ingredients to match.
2. Make a simple syrup by bringing the sugar, salt and water to a simmer. Let it cool for a few minutes.
3. Mix everything in a blender. You're blending the fruit twice to get it extra smooth.
4. Chill, churn, ripen, scoop. You know the drill.
You can see in the picture that the texture isn't as smooth as my sorbets usually get. I skimped a bit on the rum and over-churned. I've since broken it up like a granita so it's more crumbly than solid which isn't too bad. It'll smooth out as it melts a little.
The tomatoes from this week's CSA share never ripened quite right so the sorbet has that tart, resinous flavor slightly under-ripe tomatoes have. It's an interesting match with the tartness of the carambolas and the slight acid of the lime. I've got to admit that of all the ridiculous flavors of ice cream and sorbet I've made this is the first one that's really wierded me out. It's bright and fruity--the tomato and carambola seamlessly blended into a quite pleasant tropical-noted flavor, but it's still clearly under-ripe tomato in there and it's hard to get past that. I'm going to offer this to my co-workers without telling them what's in it to see if the tomato really is that obvious and how it goes over without that knowledge.
