For July recipes last year I showed how easy it was to make ice creams and the feedback from readers was very good.
Some readers even asked me to send more, but this year I decide to show you how easy Sorbets are as well! You don’t need an ice-cream maker and the Sorbets tend to be healthier as there is less cream. My husband is diabetic, as I have mentioned before, so I make him sugar-free Sorbets and ice-cream using artificial sweeteners and it works very well. As with ice-cream recipes, almost anything can be used to make Sorbets include all fruits, some vegetables and cheese as below!
Buen Apetito
Melon Ice
1 melon
75g caster sugar
3 tbsp maple sugar
142ml pot double cream
½ lemon
400g vanilla yogurt
Mint leaves to decorate
Cut the melon in half and scoop out the seeds and throw away. Scoop out the rest of the flesh and puree with the sugar, maple syrup and cream. Add the lemon juice. Whisk in the yogurt and turn into a rigid freezer-proof container. Freeze for 2 hours or until almost firm. Remove from freezer and beat to break up the ice crystals then return to freezer until solid. Serve with melon balls, some more maple syrup and the mint.
Lemon Frozen Yogurt
6 lemons
100g caster sugar
142ml pot whipping cream
200g low fat vanilla or plain yogurt
Scrub the lemons, cut off the tops and scoop the flesh and juice into a saucepan, removing pips and heat gently with the sugar. Simmer for 2 minutes then remove from heat and allow to cool. Stir in cream. Whisk in yogurt and turn into a rigid container and freeze for 2 hours. Remove from freezer and break up the ice crystals. Scoop into lemon shells and return to freezer until solid.
Italian Cassata
5 egg yolks
2 tsp cornflour
175g caster sugar
600ml milk
284ml double cream
100g glacé fruit
250g ricotta cheese
1 lemon
50g blanched almonds
Whisk eggs yolks, cornflour and 150g of the caster sugar. Heat milk until almost boiled. Whisk into the egg mixture. Place over a pan of simmering water and cook custard until it thickens. Allow to cool, but stir to prevent skin forming. Whip the cream and then fold half into the custard mixture. Turn into rigid container and freezer for two hours. Break up the crystals and then spread the mixture into a 1.5 litre pudding basin and freeze until solid. Chop up the glacé fruit, beat ricotta and grate the lemon rind. Beat remaining sugar, double cream and the chopped glacé fruit into the ricotta. Chop the almonds and fold in. Spoon into the centre of pudding basin. Freeze until solid. Serve with whipped cream and glacé fruit.
Basic Sugar Syrup for Sorbets
1 vanilla pod
175g caster sugar
Put vanilla pod into a saucepan with sugar and ½ pint of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and remove vanilla pod.
Kiwi Sorbet
6 kiwi fruit
½ lemon
2 tbsp pistachio nuts
1 egg white
Basic syrup
Peel Kiwi and finely chop. Sieve to remove seeds. Add to the basic syrup, grate rind and squeeze juice from lemon and add. Turn into rigid container and freeze for 2 hours. Remove and stir to break up ice crystals. Whisk egg white and add to Sorbet with the nuts. Return to freezer and freeze until solid.
Grapefruit Sorbet
3 pink grapefruit
Basic syrup
2 egg whites
Squeeze the juice from the grapefruits and stir into basic syrup. Turn into rigid container and freeze until semi-frozen. Remove and stir to break up the ice crystals. Whisk the egg whites and fold into Sorbet and return to freezer until solid. Decorate to suit. For a rough Sorbet add flesh from grapefruits with the juice at the beginning.