Cherry Sorbet

My last state-of-the-art ice-cream maker recently decided to die on me! I was devastated, because although a bit of a dinosaur in technology terms (it was over 15 years old) it had served me well, literally churning out ice-creams and sorbets by the litre. It was so easy to use and I loved it.
 I love the experimentation you can do with different ingredients and flavours when you make your own ice-cream at home, so I knew that I would have to replace this now deceased small home-appliance; and sooner rather than later!

I was browsing around my local Aldi store recently and lo and behold, they had ice-cream makers on offer for €25! I had paid significantly more than that for my original one. It sounds a little bit perverse of me, but I was more than a little bit suspicious whether this piece of machinery could be any good, when it was being offered at such a low price, but I decided that I would risk it, because even if it was useless, it cost relatively little and I could eventually invest in a better one, if I had to.

Well, let me tell you, this is a great little machine and I have been making ice-creams and sorbets galore since I acquired it.

As I think any regular followers of my blog will know… I am a little bit obsessed with fresh cherries at the moment. Well, in keeping with my basic philosophy of trying to cook and eat seasonally in as far as possible, cherries are in season at the moment. Pretty soon I will probably be on a blackberry, mushroom and game overload as autumn really sets in but for now I’m trying a few last cherry recipes before their season comes to an end for this year.

Let me tell you, this sorbet was a triumph. I was so pleased with how it turned out. It was bursting with intense cherry flavour and the colour was AMAZING!

The underlying principles of making this sorbet could be adapted to use other fruits in season, but at the moment, to my mind, this cherry sorbet will takes some beating. It was fabulous.
 

Ingredients:

900g fresh cherries, pitted
225ml water
300g caster sugar

50ml lemon juice

1tblsp kirsch (optional)

1tblsp liquid glucose
 

Method:

1. Place the cherries, water and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a moderate heat. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes until the cherries are soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

2. Puree the cherries in a blender or food processor and then pass through a fine sieve into a clean bowl. This step is not absolutely necessary, but it really does ensure that the resulting sorbet is beautifully smooth. Allow the puree to cool completely and then add the lemon juice, kirsch (if using) and liquid glucose.

3. Pour the cooled mixture into the bowl of the ice-cream maker and churn following the manufacturer’s instructions.
 

Serves 6-8.