I love fresh fruit sorbet. Plum and cantalope are my favorites.
Plum Sorbet
Plum puree:
3 cups ripe red fleshed plums
1 cup boiling water
2 cups caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
Plum Puree: Place the boiling water and caster sugar in a saucepan and stir them together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and plums to the syrup and place the saucepan over a moderate heat. Bring the syrup to a simmer and reduce the temperature slightly. Leave the plums to cook gently for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the plums with a slotted spoon and leave them and the syrup to cool. Cut the plums in half and remove the stones from them. Roughly dice the plums and place them in a food processor or blender and puree them with cooking syrup. Set the puree aside until well cooled.
Sorbet: Place the puree and syrup in an ice cream machine and allow it to churn until the mixture becomes firm. Place the sorbet in a well sealed freezer proof container and freeze until ready to serve. If you don't have an ice cream machine place it in a freezer proof sealed container and place it in the freezer for 1 hour then remove it and stir, then return to the freezer and take it out and stir it every 30 minutes for 2 hours then freeze it until ready to serve.
To Serve: Remove the sorbet from the freezer 15 minutes before serving. Serve the sorbet in bowls with slices of plum and garnish with mint leaves. |