Spiced Blood Orange Sorbet

Today (Saturday) I am sitting in my front yard, peddling our wears at the GIANT MULTI FAMILY YARD SALE. I am wearing a coat, gloves have been coming off and on since I got up this morning.  Because the weather is miserable there has been almost no one around.  Yes, May has been absolutely psychotic this year it has given us 90 degrees and sunny for most of a week then a cloudy freezing weekend.  During the week, when it was sunny and hot (and I was a work) I picked up some blood oranges and made this little number.

  Blood Oranges are a favorite of mine not because of the taste really, they may be a little more tart but mostly taste like a standard orange.  The color is absolutely stunning though, look at them! 

Spiced Blood Orange Sorbet
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
grated peel from 3 Blood oranges
1 TBS chopped fresh ginger
3 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
2 cups fresh blood orange juice
juice from one lime

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil over medium/high heat until sugars dissolve then reduce heat.  Simmer until the syrup is reduced by 1/2 (about half an hour).  Pour syrup through a strainer then refrigerate until cool.

Juice blood oranges, I used about 15 to get the 2 cups of juice I needed, then add the lime juice (not needed but adds a little kick) and chill.  When you are ready just mix the syrup and the orange juice together and put into an ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.  Transfer to a container and freeze until firm, mine took about 6 hours until it was servable.  The next day for the pictures I let the dish temper on the counter for about 10 minutes before I scooped and it turned out a perfect consistency, firm but usable.

How did it taste?  To be honest, in the first bite the ginger comes on a bit strong but quickly mellows.  When I had the dish that you see in the picture it had a sweet flavor with a depth that you don't get often.  It would be wonderful in the middle of a meal or as a light dessert in the summer.  When I make it next time I think I will add a little more cardamom the flowery subtlety was a little lost in the punch of ginger.

How is the yard sale going?  I am sitting in my garage freezing my ass off as I write this but the 50 cents more than makes up for it.