Fruit as sorbet containers ... pretty but tasty?

[Gifted Gourmet]

On a recent trip to California, I had a peach sorbet served in a hollowed-out peach. While it was quite attractive, I could not figure out how to prepare the fruit shell which served as a container ... the frozen peach shell was not particularly tasty either but at least the sorbet made up for that.

What other containers made out of hollowed-out fruits do you use to serve frozen desserts?

What attractive combinations might you have tried?

[Rachel Perlow]

Around me, most of the sorbet in fruit shells at restaurants are by Bindi. Here's a link to their catalog page with these items.

[Gifted Gourmet]

That is truly beautiful, Rachel! Many thanks for the lead ...

Anyone else made their unique fruit containers?

[Curlz]

Funny...when I think of these, I immediately think of Nasto's, which is based in Newark's (NJ) Ironbound section. I am particularly fond of the pear, although many restaurants don't carry it. I usually stop in and pick up a bunch of them to keep in my freezer.

[Rachel Perlow]

Thank you so much, Curlz. I know that some of the restaurants used something from Newark, my parents' country club, for example, but I didn't know the name of the producer (besides Bindi -- which has a retail store in Totowa NJ).

Here's a link to Nasto's website.

[Pam R]

For a while we would make lemon cups for lemon sorbet at weddings. It wasn't out of the norm to make 350 at a time. Obviously citruc fruits are easy to hollow out and make good cups... not very original though.

[SuzySushi]

Papaya sorbet in a papaya shell. It's easy to hollow out!

[gourmande]

Gosh, the first and last time I did that was in the summer of '83! I remember because I was in my last term - of pregnancy that is - and was "scaring" everyone around me with my seemingly boundless energy when it came to cooking, baking, sewing... I think they call it "nesting"

Anyhow, at the time I had made lime and lemon sorbets served in hollowed out lime and lemon shells. Not sure why I never did it again but thanks for bringing the subject up GG

Fruit shells do make very nice containers and I'm sure this will spark some more great ideas that have been tried or are worth exploring.

[wattacetti]

Lemons, oranges and grapefruit (yah yah, they're easy). Also did pineapple once but not for an individual serving.

[Gifted Gourmet]

thanks for bringing the subject up GG 

Fruit shells do make very nice containers and I'm sure this will spark some more great ideas that have been tried or are worth exploring.

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They are so perfect during this summer where the heat is now hitting in the 90's every day .. beautiful sorbets make one feel as if life will go on until the chill sets in the fall ... tonight, I made blueberry-peach sorbet and the color is amazing! Needed to be set in a lemon or orange shell but not enough time to buy the fruits ...

[Gifted Gourmet]

Now I can better illustrate the first post in this thread with my photograph:

[helenjp]

Passionfruit shells work well, and passionfruit make a tasty sorbet too.

Pity that my freezer wouldn't hold much more than individual grape sorbets on the half-shell

[I_call_the_duck]

GG, that sorbet looks amazing!! A restaurant where I trailed for a potential job served their sorbet in a melon bowl. Very thinly sliced melon (canteloupe and honeydew) was lined in a small bowl, frozen and then unmolded prior to serving. Time consuming, but pretty.

[Shalmanese]

Hrmm...

I wonder if you could do a banana sorbet by cutting a reasonably firm banana in 1/2 and then scooping out the flesh. Use the flesh in something else and make a sorbet with a relatively ripe banana and pipe it in.

Could you do a riff on chocolate dipped strawberries by making some chocolate shells and then piping in strawberry sorbet and garnishing with very tiny mint leaves?

I've been trying to turn kiwifruits into stable containers for serving and I can never manage. I always tend to tear the skin.

What about serving a tomato sorbet where the pit was in an avacado?

[zilla369]

What about serving a tomato sorbet where the pit was in an avacado?

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Wow. Brilliant. Has no one done this already? I can really picture it!

[Mooshmouse]

This article from The Vancouver Courier talks about Island Way Sorbet, a newcomer to Vancouver that's based in Florida. Their assortment of fruit-shelled sorbets includes apple, lemon, pineapple, coconut and orange. I've yet to try them, but they look delicious!