Friday, June 11, 2010

I made a raspberry sorbet,
the kind you find in an icy treats store

Apologies to Prince for that headline, but I'm sure he'd like this Red Wine-Raspberry Sorbet (click here for the recipe at the Bon Appetit website). My husband sure liked it!
   This sorbet recipe was created by professional pastry chef David Lebovitz and can also be found in his new cookbook, Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes.
   In the introduction to the recipe in the cookbook, Lebovitz writes that this red wine-raspberry sorbet is his all-time favourite.
   This must really be saying something, because there are no less than 14 sorbet recipes in his new cookbook, including sangria, chocolate-tangerine, Meyer Lemon, watermelon-sake and cherry.
   I can see why it's his favourite (it's my favourite too now, by the way) -- it's a sorbet for wine lovers, with the taste of red wine mingling with the fresh berries in every spoonful. There's a bit of pucker here too, like you would get with a red wine or berry.
   It's a simple yet elegant dessert, perfect for ending a small dinner party (or a weeknight dinner!)
   It's also the most "professional" sorbet I've made yet, with a perfect texture and lovely colour -- it looked exactly like it did in the cookbook photo!
   And here's the kicker -- it's extremely easy to make. However, it requires the use of an ice-cream maker.
   I successfully substituted Splenda for the sugar called for in this recipe.
   Sugar (or Splenda), water and a bottle of red wine (I used a merlot) are brought to a boil, then the raspberries are added. This is left to steep for an hour.
   The mixture is then poured through a sieve into a bowl, and the raspberries left behind. Using a spatula, berries are mashed through the sieve into the liquid, conveniently leaving the seeds behind. The mixture is refrigerated until cold (I left it in the fridge overnight.)
   It's then processed in an ice-cream maker.



No comments: