Mojito Sorbet

This week I moved out of uni for the final time, and whilst I am looking for a job, I'm also taking some time to relax and recharge after a very exhausting end of term/year/degree. So, what's the best way to relax in the summer sun? Stay inside and make sorbet of course! Though this isn't *technically* a mojito sorbet as I used gin instead of white rum, it tastes like one so that's good enough for me!

Mojito Sorbet

Bare Necessities

60ml Gin/White Rum

175ml Lime Juice (approx 6 Limes)

Zest of 2 Limes

150g Sugar

30g Mint Leaves

560ml Water

1. In a saucepan, stir in all of the ingredients and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Remove from the heat and cover for a few minutes to allow the mint to steep.

3. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a jug, making sure to squeeze all of the liquid out of the mint leaves.

4. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and freeze according to your manufacturer's settings.

5. Once frozen, pop the sorbet into the freezer for a couple hours to allow it to chill fully.

6. Serve up and enjoy!

Lovely Lemon Sorbet

So last week my brother and his girlfriend came up to visit my mum and I for his birthday, and they were driving up to us on the hottest day of the year so far in the middle of the day. Crazy, right? However, seeing as I knew that they'd be boiling by the time they arrived, I thought I'd make a refreshing sorbet for them to have when they arrived, and what's more refreshing than a lemon sorbet?

Unlike most other fruit sorbet, this one doesn't require any blending or pureeing of fruit, so much less mess! It's also got a pleasantly short ingredient list, so it's not a particularly complicated recipe.

N.B My mum isn't too good with sour stuff, so this sorbet isn't particularly sour. However, if you prefer as slightly zingier sorbet, just use 50g less sugar.


Lovely Lemon Sorbet

Bear Necessities:

625ml Water
200g Sugar
2 Lemons
250ml Lemon Juice

1. Zest the two lemons.
2. Add the zest, sugar and 125ml of the water to a saucepan and gently heat whilst stirring until all the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Once dissolved, remove from the heat and add the remaining 500ml of water.
4. Place in the fridge for about half an hour or until thoroughly chilled.
5. Once chilled, mix in the lemon juice. For this, I squeezed the juice from the two previously zested lemons, and then just used lemon juice from a bottle, but if you do this, make sure it's actually 100% lemon juice and not from concentrate or made of chemicals and what have you.
6. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
7. Serve up and enjoy!

Mango Sorbet

Since I got my ice cream machine for Christmas, I haven't stopped making ice cream; vanilla, strawberry, baileys, nutella...But then I thought that maybe it was time to try something different, so I opened my recipe books and a page on Safari and got searching. I finally settled on a recipe from this book and wrote about it for all you out there!

I've always been a fan of sorbet. It has this magical property where, in the middle of a really posh meal, just when you think you are about to burst, along comes this little glass with an equally tiny scoop of sorbet; and then, as you groan and reluctantly take a bite of this golden orb, you suddenly feel rejuvenated, less full and ready to take on the next obscenely extravagant course!

So here I present to you:

Mango Sorbet

Bare Necessities:

2 Large Ripe Mangoes (or 1kg Chopped Mangoes)

130g Granulated Sugar

160ml Water

4tsp Lime Juice (plus more to taste)

1tbsp Rum (totally optional, or you could switch it with vodka, or go experimental and try something else!)

pinch Salt

1. Peel and chop the mangoes, cutting the flesh away from the stone. (skip this step if you already have chopped mango)

2. Add the sugar, water, lime juice, alcohol and salt and blend to a puree.

3. Taste a little bit and add more lime juice, salt, sugar or alcohol as needed. Remember, alcohol affects the freezing temperature, so the more you add, the softer it will be. Be careful not to add too much or it won't freeze at all!

4. Chill in the fridge for 5-10 mins and then put into your ice-cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions. 

5. Serve up and enjoy!