This summer is so confusing!!! Saturday was the most perfect day, spent sitting on the front deck of Josh's cousins house, playing on the slip'n'slide with their kids, baking in the hot sun while the boys played cricket, followed by a lazy dinner after dark, still sitting on the deck without needing extra layers because we were still super toasty from the sun. Also known as a perfect summer day.
Sunday, and we have done a total 180°. I spent all day inside because it was howling with wind and pouring with rain! The dogs slept on the back doorstep all day and I put test colours of paint on the walls because the long and tedious job of stripping wallpaper is finally done and now we can prep and paint!! So even though the weather didn't co-operate and give me one more nice day before I spend the week sitting at a computer inside, I ignored the fact and made sorbet! Strawberry sorbet!
I love making ice-cream and always have a tub of my favourite homemade no-churn vanilla ice-cream and usually some of this mint chocolate chip one in the freezer for when the mood strikes (read, everyday). These 2 ice-creams are the best, but at this time of year, even if it's raining, it is still muggy and hot, and creamy treats don't really cut it. Something cold, sweet and fruity is the order of the day and this 3 ingredient super simple strawberry sorbet fits the bill perfectly. Made with fresh in season strawberries that are blended up with sugar syrup and lemon juice and then churned in the ice-cream maker, this is a treat that you can have all summer long.
The sugar syrup is the most technical part of the recipe and all that's involved in that is boiling sugar and water together until the sugar has dissolved. Remember? We made it for the best cocktails I know, that I'm now being content with sans Bacardi. Throw the strawberries in the blender, add the syrup and lemon juice, taste to make sure the flavour is right, strain to get rid of some of the seeds and then churn away! You can add more or less sugar syrup and lemon juice so that the flavour suits you. I prefer mine less sweet so make my sugar syrup with 1 cup water and ¾ cup sugar rather than the traditional 1:1 ratio but feel free to use this if you would prefer. Taste the mixture before you add it to the ice-cream maker - the key is to make sure it is slightly too sweet at this stage. Once frozen, the sweetness will dull a little, so slightly sweeter than you want it to be is perfect.
Churn it and then put it in the freezer to continue to freeze before scooping and enjoying on a hot summer day.
Here's hoping that we get some beautiful summer weather next weekend so that I can sit outside and enjoy this!
[mc4wp_form]
Ingredients
- 4 cups strawberries sliced in half
- ½-3/4 cup sugar syrup
- 3-4 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
To make sugar syrup
- Add equal quantities of sugar and water to a pot on the stove, bring to the boil stirring until the sugar has dissolved and allow to cool before using. Sugar syrup can be kept in the fridge for 1 week.
Sorbet
- Wash and hull strawberries and slice in half or quarters for bigger berries.
- Add the strawberries to a blender and blend until liquid. Start by adding ½ cup of sugar syrup and 3 tablespoon of lemon juice, mix together and taste. Add more syrup if it needs to be sweeter and more lemon juice if it needs to be tarter. Remember, it needs to be more on the sweeter side as the sweetness will dull down once the sorbet is frozen.
- Pour the mixture through a fine wire sieve to remove some of the seeds and then refrigerate the sorbet for about 1 hour before churning.
- Following the instructions on your ice-cream maker, churn the sorbet.
- Transfer to a freezable container and freeze for a further 2 or 3 hours.
