I overbought clementines during the holidays and am now dealing with a box of withering fruit. As I mulled juicing them, I remembered a charming story from The New York Times magazine last weekend that has inspired me to try a clementine sherbet.
Dining editor Pete Wells wrote about his son Dexter’s fascination with all things culinary — a father-son obsession that has included grinding coffee beans and baking cookies. The father-son chefs had made lots of sorbet during the summer, but Dexter wanted to make ice cream. A food allergy to eggs prevents him from eating real ice cream, but recently while making tangerine sorbet, Dexter insisted on adding cream.
When it was frozen, it reminded me of long-ago Creamsicles and Orange Juliuses at the mall, but it had a bright juiciness I don’t remember from my childhood. What we didn’t eat right away Dexter packed into tiny plastic bowls to freeze for later. He wanted to sell orange ice cream to our neighbors.
Read the story first, then grab your kid and juice some citrus. The Wells family recipe is here. (I plan to substitute a soy milk creamer, although Pete says half-and-half works fine too.) And don’t miss the video demonstration by food tester Jill Santopietro in her latest (and funny) Tiny Kitchen video, posted below.