Sorbets and Granitas

In 2024 I hesitate to commend anything whatsoever about Moscow, but during a visit a few years ago, something struck me. When the wife of an important person went out, she was invariably accompanied by a large man with no neck. Given the circumstances which gave rise to the inspiration for my recipe today, I conclude this may not be such a bad idea in Edinburgh. More of that anon.

As I said in Wednesday's column, sorbets are pretty simple. That's true. I also said that you didn't need an ice cream maker. Also true, but I wouldn't try it without mine and would settle for a granita, which is basically a sorbet with larger ice crystals; however, if Claire Macdonald can do without, so, I guess, can you.

How I came to have an ice cream maker is a little convoluted. In the dim and distant past we used to have a machine which made bread. That was made redundant by me, now the resident bread maker. If you're redundant in this house, you don't last long - keeps me on my toes. It was ruthlessly swapped for a deep fat fryer, one of those ones with a lid. L got fed up with me making chips in the wok when she was out and stinking out the entire house. When that machine failed to have the desired effect it too was out, swapped for a rudimentary ice cream maker. This thing involved a metal bowl which you put in the freezer. Take it out, pour in your mixture and add the lid with built in paddle. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. This time I was the instrument of change, sneaking in a proper ice cream gizmo with a built in freezer unit. Not as expensive as you might think, and for me an essential tool.

Anyway, back to our fruit purée, water and sugar. Sorbet shuld be smooth. Raspberries and strawberries are favourites in summer. Make sure you blitz them, possibly with a little water. From there you must push the mixture through a fine sieve. Do this even with fruit without pips. Take mango, for example. It's a lot stringier than you think. This process is fiddly and messy - chefs use ready bought fruit purées.

Water and sugar. In essence you make a syrup (sometimes called a stock syrup) by melting granulated sugar in water. This has to be done gently until the sugar has melted, otherwise it crystallises. The next, and most fundamental, question is how much sugar. And for a food blogger the most fundamental problem is writing down recipes for things one does by instinct.

The amount of sugar you will need will obviously vary according to the fruit you're using. Lemon will require more than strawberry. But a batch of strawberrries bought now will need more than those you buy in sun kissed July. Do professional recipes assist? More problems. I have often found the BBC website to be very reliable, but consider this. In her Cookery Bible, for a 3 lemon sorbet Prue Leith suggests 140g of sugar: the BBC calls for 250g. The latter horrifies me. See my citrus recipe below.

There is, however, one extra dimension, although the most basic recipes will ignore it. When the culinary genius that is Craig Wood of The Wee Restaurant in North Queensferry was advising me, he called for a beaten egg white. I can't remember at what stage he added his*, but I think it was just before the mixture went into the freezing machine. Prue and Claire make theirs in a box in the freezer, large enough to allow them to whip the mixture regularly for smoothness. They add the egg white once the mix has begun to set. With my wee ice cream gizmo that really wouldn't work, so I add mine to the mixture before it goes into the machine. I have also made it without. I'd appreciate comments from experts on this.

You want to mix the fruit and the syrup. If you're not confident about your sugar ratios, do this in stages, tasting as you go. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the instructions.

I begin with a simplified version of a Claire Macdonald recipe for the simple reason that I trust her when it comes to sugar. You can make your own mind up.

Raspberry Sorbet

Ingredients

1kg raspberries; 600ml water; 175g granulated sugar; pared rind and juice of 2 lemons; 3 beaten egg whites.

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Put the water and sugar in a pan together with the rind (but not the juice). Heat gently till the sugar has melted then boil for a few minutes. Take off the heat, add the lemon juice, sieve and allow to cool.

Liquidise the rasps and pass through a sieve to get rid of the pips. Stir into the syrup. I would add the beaten egg whites at this stage then put into the ice cream maker.

Claire would put in a large plastic container and put in the freezer. After a couple of hours she would whisk the mixture and beat in the egg whites. In all she would whisk three times. Who could be bothered?

Raspberry Granita

Make your mixture as above, minus the egg white. Pour into a wide shallow tray and put in the freezer. When the mixture starts to freeze (this will take longer than you might think), take a fork and scrape through the whole tray. Repeat this at regular (30 - 45 minute) intervals until the ice crystals are hard.

Tom's Ridiculous Citrus Sorbet

Or, what happens when your spouse goes shopping without a minder.

I had been to the supermarket the previous day. Our citrus bowl was full. Then when I returned home it was overflowing. After a few days the level hadn't gone down, and I began to worry about waste. Then a sorbet shaped idea came to me. Compare and contrast my sugar ratio with the BBC versions referred to above.

Ingredients

Zest of 2 limes; juice of 12 limes; juice of 2 lemons; juice of 1 grapefruit; 568 ml (1 pint) of water; 180g granulated sugar; 1 beaten egg white.

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Put the sugar and lime zest in a pan with the water. Heat gently until the sugar has melted, then  boil for a few minutes. Strain and allow to cool. I suggest you also strain your citrus juice to get rid of little impurities. Add the juice to the sugar syrup. Beat in the egg white. Pour into your ice cream maker until set.

Carpaccio of Pineapple with Citrus Sorbet

A poncy name, but quite a nice dessert.

Cut as thin a slice as possibele (cross ways) from a peeled pineapple. Neatly remove the core. Top with a scoop of sorbet. Garnish with a sprig of mint and, if you can be arsed, a drizzle of mint infused stock syrup.

*I sent Craig a sneak preview of this column. He came back to confirm that it was his practice to incorporate the egg white into the cold liquid just before pouring into the ice cream maker; however, as he now makes his sorbets vegan friendly, he's stopped doing this. He tells me that it doesn't make a big difference. Thanks, Craig.