As usual it has been ages since I posted!
2 reasons – we have been concentrating on getting our vegan pop-up dining going again, and, I hate to post recipes that don’t work.
One of the things I have wanted to get right for a while is ice-cream (vegan of course) and sorbet. We learned a lot on the Demuth’s vegan cooking course, but even the ice cream we made there went rock hard once in the freezer.
While in Bath doing the Demuth course we had a meal at Acorn which is owned/run by Richard Buckley who was previously the head chef at Demuth’s. It was a very good meal by the way. The point is he has produced a cook/recipe book called Plants Taste Better, which of course we bought!
In this book he makes a raspberry sorbet.
We have talked to many people about this problem of icecream/sorbet becoming rock hard in the freezer. The answer seems to be in the freezing point. The more you can lower the freezing point of your mixture the better. Alcohol, Sugars and xantham gum or guar gum help.
I came up with a bit of a mixture of recipes, and it worked!! We had frozen yet serveable sorbet!!
Ingredients:
3 C berries
¼ C water
¼ C castor sugar
2 T agave nectar
Pinch salt
1 to 2 T vodka
1/3 t xantham gum
Method:
1 Put berries, water, sugar, agave and salt into a pot – bring to boil and simmer for about 5 mins.
2 Allow to cool a little, then blend in high speed blender till smooth.
3 Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
4 Stir in the vodka and xantham gum.
5 Put the mixture into the fridge and chill – you need it to be +10 C or less.
6 Preferably use your ice-cream maker to finish – follow the instructions for your particular machine.
7 Once done transfer to a container and freeze.
Note:
If you do not have an ice-cream maker, it is still possible. I have not done this, but apparently take the mixture and put it in the freezer, but every 30 minutes or so stir it to prevent the ice crystals forming.
Enjoy!!
And of course, thanks to both Acorn Restaurant and Demuth’s for the inspirations!
