Lemon Candied-Ginger Ice Cream Recipe

Ever since I introduced the joy that is homemade Ginger Ale to the rest of the house, our home had a surplus of boiled chopped ginger. Although R gave eating it plain a good go, one can only snack on so much candied ginger before getting sick of the taste (although, current medical literature - and our end-of-year examination - helpfully informed us that ginger is an effective anti-nausea medication...)

In a sudden burst of inspiration, I thought that the zippy pieces of ginger would be terrific when paired with lemon ice creams.  I located a couple of recipes: my first recipe was from Epicurious, which TY liked, but I found the dairy products overwhelmed the lemon flavor and was not nearly as tart enough to pair well with the ginger pieces. So I found a sorbet recipe which uses no dairy products: this time from The Kitchn. It was a success! Both lemon and ginger are tropical in nature and meld wonderfully with each other. The spicy-sweet ginger slices gave the tart lemons in the ice cream a lively undertone. 

The recipe below is adapted from The Kitchn, which was the one R and I preferred when paired with candied ginger, though I included links to both the recipes in the paragraph above.  

Lemon Candied-Ginger Sorbet 

Makes 2 pints, or about 900ml
Recipe adapted from The Kitchn
If you don't have a zester like me, I make shallow (horizontal and vertical) incisions on the lemon using a serrated knife, then shave off the bits of lemon skin using that same knife.

To get the maximum amount of juice out of the lemons, warm them to room temperature and firmly massage the lemon hard against the counter-top, aiming to release as much juice from the pulps before cutting into the lemon.  

Ingredients
420g (1 3/4 cups) water
400g (2 cups) sugar
Half a lemon's worth of freshly grated lemon zest
2 cups (about 6 large lemons) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup of leftover ginger pieces (from the ginger ale recipe) 

Steps1) In a saucepan set over medium heat, heat water, sugar and lemon zest until the sugar dissolves (about 1 -2 minutes), stirring as you heat. Remove from the flame and let cool.  

2)  Add the lemon juice and combine. Put in the fridge to chill thoroughly. (This is when I cheat and put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes.) In a separate container, keep the leftover ginger pieces in the fridge. 

3) Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. 2 minutes before the sorbet is done, add the ginger pieces in. 

4) When done, transfer sorbet to a tupperware. Covered tightly, it will last for a couple of weeks in the freezer. It will continue to harden in the freezer. Let thaw 5-10 minutes on the countertop before serving.