A tart-sweet sorbet made from American wild plums. Enjoy like a palate cleanser in small scoops or after a meal of fish. To enhance the color, consider adding 1-2 oz (⅛-14 cup) of raspberry or another red fruit puree. I garnish it with chokecherry gastrique to enliven the color.
Freeze or gently warm the plums in a 250 degree oven until softened. Cool the plums until you can handle them, then mash in a bowl. Gradually add 1 cup of luke warm water and mix to help extract the wild plum puree. Mash the mixture through a colander, then reserve the puree. Discard the pits and skins, or save to make plum vinegar. You should have about 2.5 cups of plum puree.
Infuse the coulis
Tie the lemon balm leaves with twine into a bundle, mush them up a bit to release their aroma.
Heat 50% of the plum puree with the maple syrup and lemon balm bouquet and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat, cool to room temperature, add the lime juice and salt, then refrigerate overnight, covered.
Spin/Churn
The next day, discard the herbs and spin in an ice cream maker until thickened, like soft serve, then freeze. When the plum sorbet freezes, it will be firm, allow it to sit at room temperature for a bit to soften it and make it scoop-able.
Notes
This was supposed to be made with shiso, but the frost took it before we were able to film, so, I used lemon balm instead.