Editor’s Note: RFT Editor Anne Weaver and I just returned from a trip to Louisiana and there were days when the temperature and humidity were both in the 90s. Now that’s hot and sweaty. While you may not live in a place as warm as Louisiana, Chef Gisele Perez’s recipe for Pineapple Sherbet is sure to hit the spot on a warm summer afternoon.

Summer evokes memories of long, hot days, sitting in the shade on a porch or under a large tree eating something cold and sweet. For Chef Gisele Perez, summertime brings back fond memories of time spent in New Orleans.

“Summers in New Orleans were steamy enough to immediately fog up my glasses when I stepped outside the air conditioned house, but there were plenty of treats to keep us cool,” Gisele explains. “Sodas were delivered by the crate load to Aunt Leticia’s house. There was also a neighborhood specialty called “huckabucks,” a fruity punch mixture frozen into paper cups, sold by one of the neighbors, and the ubiquitous New Orleans specialty, snow balls, paper cones filled with shaved ice and topped with sticky sweet syrups. But my favorite summer treat was my Aunt Leticia’s homemade pineapple sherbet. We would sit outside under a shady tree and eat this delicious dessert and feel the heat melt away.”

Recipe courtesy Chef Gisele Perez. PainPerduBlog.com

Serves 6

• 3½ cups crushed canned pineapple packed in juice with the juice

• 5 ounce sweetened condensed milk

• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or more to taste

• 2 egg whites

• 1 pinch salt

Combine pineapple, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for several hours.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt.

Take the chilled mixture from the refrigerator and fold in the beaten egg whites in three additions.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to your machine’s directions. The sherbet will be soft. It may be served as is, or placed in a freezer to freeze harder.