Serves: Makes about 1 litre
I think this strawberry and Aperol sorbet is my favourite flavour. Its intense fruitiness is summer in a scoop (or two). Thanks to the wonderful weather there is a bumper strawberry crop, so try and find a local Pick Your Own farm. And these days there is no scrabbling around in the straw on your hands and knees for the prized fruit as most crops are grown at shoulder height (that is short person shoulder high). If you are serving this for children or those who want to avoid alcohol you can leave out the Aperol. The addition of gelatine and egg white improve the texture and gives the sorbet a softer finish, so you don’t need to leave the sorbet out to soften before scooping. It is wonderful on its own but if you’ve made a batch try it in the sundae recipe that will follow.
Ingredients
- 3 sheets platinum grade gelatine, about 3-4g
- 225g caster sugar
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 100ml Aperol
- 725g hulled strawberries, washed
- 1 egg white
Method
- Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Put the sugar in a saucepan with 200ml water and the lemon juice. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil then take off the heat and stir in the Aperol. Lift the softened gelatine out of the water and stir into the hot sugar and Aperol mixture. Set aside to cool a little.
- While it cools prepare the strawberries. Put the fruit in a liquidizer and blend until completely smooth. Pass through a fine sieve, discarding any little pips.
- Stir the strawberry purée into the cooled sugar mixture. Pour into an ice cream maker and churn until slightly frozen and thickened. Beat the egg white until slighty frothy and stir into the sorbet. Continue to churn and freeze until set. Scrape into a suitable container and freeze until completely hard.
