Rhubarb Sorbet

Recipe

500g Rhubarb, washed and cut into 3cm lngths (or 1 lb, cut into 1 inch lengths))
4 Tbsp of water
250g golden caster sugar (or white) (or 8 ounces)
500ml water (or 1 pint)

First make the sugar syrup by gently warming the water with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

Cook the Rhubarb with the 4 tablespoons of water until soft. Cool. Blitz in a blender and then push through a sieve into the sugar syrup, make sure you get all the puree. Stir well.

Pour into your freezer container and when cool place in the freezer for between 4 and 6 hours. Stir once after about 2 hours when slushy, and again after 4 hours. Remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with Crystallized Ginger and/or Ginger syrup.

Pink Gooseberry Sorbet

Recipe

450g Pink Gooseberries, topped and tailed and washed.
2 Tbsp of water
140g golden caster sugar (or white)
300ml water

First make the sugar syrup for all the fruit varieties you have. Heat the water and sugar together slowly for 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved

Put the gooseberries into a pan with 2 Tbsp of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.

Press the fruit through a sieve into the sugar syrup and discard what's in the sieve, but remembering to scrape the underside of the sieve to get all the purée.

Bring this mixture to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

Pour into your freezer container and when cool place in the freezer for between 4 and 6 hours. Stir well after about 2 hours and again after 4 hours.

Remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

The same recipe can be used for green gooseberries and other soft fruits, such as currants, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries. You can add more sugar to taste, or lemon juice to get the level of tartness you like.

Lavender Sorbet

Recipe

For the Sugar Syrup: 250ml water and 150g of golden caster sugar.

4 Lavender Flower heads or 2 tsp of dried flowers.

Juice of a lemon, strained.

350ml of cold water.

Slowly heat the sugar and water with the Lavender heads added and bring gently to the boil.

Add half the lemon juice and leave to cool.

Strain the syrup to remove the lavender and add the cold water.

Add the rest of the lemon juice to taste.

Place into a freezer container and stir when slushy after 2 hours, and again after 4 hours.

Remove from the freezer to the fridge half an hour before serving.



Amazingly this recipe only requires 4 flower heads to make a delicately pink sorbet with a subtle flavour.

Lavender Sorbet and Ice-cream can sometime be seen for sale in places like France or Italy. If its a lavender colour then it has had colour added. If it's the palest pink or white (in the case of ice-cream) then it is likely to be natural.

You could also try this recipe with rose petals (use a strongly perfumed variety) or violets.

Mint Sorbet

Recipe

First of all make 500ml of sugar syrup: that is dissolve 500gr of sugar in 500ml of water under a slow heat. No need to boil.

Add 6, 4 inch sprigs of mint and 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and 250 ml of cold water. Bring slowly to the boil and then allow to cool.

Strain into your freezer container and freeze for a couple of hours until slushy.

Whisk up an egg white to stiff folds. Stir into the mint sorbet and return to the freezer for a couple more hours.

This integration of the egg-white into the sorbet is hard and in mine the white frothy stuff separated and floated on top.

I suggest you divide the mint sorbet amongst some serving glasses, like in the photograph above. In this way the egg-white appears like snow. It's great.

Black, Red and White Currant Sorbet

Recipes

For each variety of soft fruit you will need:

450g fruit
2 Tbsp of water
140g golden caster sugar (or white)
300ml water

First make the sugar syrup for all the fruit varieties you have. If you have all 3 then put 900ml of water in a pan with 420g of sugar. Heat slowly for 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar and then boil for 10 minutes. Pour the sugar syrup into a measuring jug, it will have reduced to about 750ml.

For each fruit variety put the washed fruit, with stems removed into a pan with 2 Tbsp of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.

Into a clean pan pour the correct proportion of sugar syrup; for 3 varieties that's about 250ml of sugar syrup. Press the fruit through a sieve into the sugar syrup and discard what's in the sieve, but remembering to scrape the underside of the sieve to get all the purée.

Bring this mixture to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

Pour into your freezer container and when cool place in the freezer for between 4 and 6 hours. Stir once after about 2 hours. Remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.