Bon Appetit: Dairy-Free Chocolate Sorbet Recipe

It's difficult when you're a dairy-free person who likes French food, or when you're a dairy-free person who has friends who like French food; from butter-rich breads, cream sauces, and cheese, cheese, cheese, most menus seem nearly impossible for alternative diets. At most French restaurants, I'm limited to a salad with some sort of grain that the kitchen makes special for me with oil instead of butter. And, this is fine; I like salads and un-buttered grains. The highlight of French dining for me, however, is the sorbet, which is almost always dairy-free. My inspiration for this Chocolate Sorbet Recipe came from one such salad-and-unbuttered rice evening, mainly because it was one of my only French dining experiences in which the kitchen told me that the choice of sorbet was prepared with chocolate that contained milk ingredients and was not dairy-free. I wasn't shattered, but I was determined to make my own.

This Chocolate Sorbet is really easy to prepare if you have an ice cream maker. But even if you don't, you can prepare it using a blender, processing the mixture periodically over several hours to prevent ice crystals from forming. Either way, it's a nice, refreshing treat at the end of a summer meal. Bon appetit!

Photo © 2009 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.