Spiced Cashew Milk and Vegan Mango Sherbet

I have been making a lot of ice creams this summer - thanks to my ice cream machine. At the same time, I don't want all of us consuming lot of fatty ice cream. That calls for something lighter and Sherbet is somewhere in between ice cream and sorbet when it comes to calories. I made milk using cashews and used that instead of dairy milk in this recipe.

Did you know that Mangoes and Cashews are the same family? So, if someone is allergic to cashews, they can't eat mangoes.

Someone asked me if I could elaborate on different frozen desserts. Here is the simplest way of explaining.
Sorbet - Frozen dessert made with fruit puree or juice which is sweetened. Many a times, there is alcohol mixed in the sorbet to make it not freeze rock solid.
Sherbet - Similar to Sorbet but has milk in it.
Ice cream - Most of the times uses heavy cream or part heavy cream. There are exceptions to it though. And it also uses egg yolks many a times to make it rich.
Granita - Similar to sorbet but has more of crushed ice texture. This is made by sweetened fruit juices/purees and other flavorings which is semi frozen.

One year back - Peach Jam
Adapted from - 'Alton Brown's Orange Sherbet'
Ingredients:
Sweetened Condensed Mango pulp - 2 1/2 cups
Cashew milk - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Flavorings - optional (I didn't use any since I was using spiced cashew milk)

To make Cashew Milk (Makes 3 1/2 cups):
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Water - 4 - 4 1/2 cups (depending on how thick you want the milk to be)
Cinnamon - 1/2 " stick
Star anise - 1 (optional - it has a strong flavor)
Cloves - 4

Method:
Make the spiced cashew milk. Soak cashews in warm water for about 1 hour. Drain and grind into a smooth paste adding water as needed. Add the remaining water and stir. Add the cinnamon, cloves and star anise if using and heat in a sauce pan stirring frequently. When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Let it sit till it comes to room temperature. Refrigerate over night or at least 5 hours. Filter to remove the spices and the solid residue. I used a big holed strainer so part of the paste made it into the milk. You can filter through cheese clothes to get real smooth milk. Keep it refrigerated.
Measure 1 1/2 cups of the cashew milk and mix it with 2 1/2 cups of mango pulp and sugar. If you are using fresh mangoes, make a puree and measure 2 cups. To it, add 1 cup of sugar (or to taste) and stir to dissolve. Keep the whole mixture back in the refrigerator. After one hour, freeze in the ice cream machine as per the manufacturer's specification. Freeze till set and enjoy.

Notes:
My husband felt they weren't sweet enough. He takes more sugar than I do, so it was fine for me. If you like it sweeter, use about 1/2 cup of sugar to it.

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