Cranberry soup with coconut ice

Ingredients

Cranberry Soup
1 lb. frozen cranberries
1 cup late-harvest Riesling wine
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 cup cranberry juice
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. orange zest
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 vanilla bean

Place sugar, water, lemon zest, orange zest and vanilla into a saucepot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add cranberries and bring back to a boil, then simmer for 12-15 minutes more. Strain through a very fine sieve and chill mixture. Add wine and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the level of sweetness to your liking.

Coconut Ice (coconut sorbet)
20 oz. unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 egg
1 vanilla bean
Mint leaves (optional)

Directions

Place water, sugar and the vanilla bean in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes over very low heat. Add coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from stove and allow to cool. This is the sorbet base.

Place an egg white in a mixing bowl with the lime juice and whisk until foamy. Add foamy mixture to sorbet base. Place in the freezer and freeze to a smooth and creamy mixture. Pour this cream frozen sorbet onto a cookie sheet. Smooth sorbet mixture out evenly about 2/3 of an inch thick. Place into freezer until you are ready to serve.

To assemble
Pour chilled cranberry cocktail into 6 martini glasses, 2/3 full. Cut the coconut sorbet into 1-inch ice cubes with a dull paring knife. Float the coconut ice cubes in the cranberry cocktail. Garnish with whipped cream and a mint leaf (optional).

Serves 6.

The sorbet can be made without the egg white by simply omitting it from the recipe. However, you may find that the coconut sorbet is not nearly as creamy.