Plum Raspberry Sorbet Recipes

PLUM-RASPBERRY SORBET

Steps:

• Slice the plums in half and remove the pits. Cut the plums into eighths and put them in a medium, nonreactive saucepan with the water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and raspberries. Let cool, to room temperature.
• Once cool, purée the mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth. If you wish, press the purée through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Stir in the kirsch.
• Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Serve scoops of Plum-Raspberry Sorbet in Gingersnap Ice Cream Cones (page 230).
• Normally I'm a fan of leaving things as close to their natural state as possible. Yet in many of the frozen desserts with berries, I choose to strain out the seeds. Why? Much of the pleasure of eating ice creams, sorbets, and sherbets is in the smooth, creamy mouthfeel, and crunching on seeds, or getting them stuck between your teeth, can be somewhat unpleasant if there are a lot of them. Especially if you don't have a toothpick handy afterward. If you do wish to keep the seeds in your mixtures, by all means do so. Or compromise a bit by straining out half of the seeds and leaving the rest in.

PLUM SORBET

Steps:

• Drain plums but reserve syrup.
• Remove stones from plums.
• Blend or process plums and syrup until smooth.
• Place plum mixture in a saucepan and add marsala, sugar and lemon juice.
• Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until sugar melts.
• Pour into a suitable container (I use a 20cm round cake tin), cover tightly with foil (or similar) and place in the freezer.
• Leave for several hours until mixture is slushy and partially set.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar gradually, beating between each addition.
• Gently fold beaten egg whites through partially frozen plum mixture.
• Return to freezer, stirring occasionally (once or twice should do), until the mixture sets.
• Serve in glass bowls with a little cream poured over (the cream hardens and makes a lovely topping!).

SIMPLE PLUM SORBET

Steps:

• Place the sliced plums, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a blender and purée until very smooth. Push the plum puree through a fine mesh sieve to catch and large pieces of skin and discard them.
• Mix the Grand Marnier to the purée just before churning. Place the purée in an ice cream machine and churn according to instructions, for approximately 25 minutes. Serve immediately or place in an air tight container and put in the freezer for two hours to firm up.
• Makes a little less than one quart of sorbet.