All posts tagged sorbet

Peach, Honey & Mint Sorbet Bellinis – A Toast to the Melbourne Cup!

By On 06/11/2012 In Desserts, Drinks With 3 Comments Permanent Link to Peach, Honey & Mint Sorbet Bellinis – A Toast to the Melbourne Cup!Permalink

Good golly miss molly! Firstly apologies for not posting last week. In the end I decided I wouldn’t put myself through the stress of trying to knock something together whilst away for my birthday celebrations. Did I mention I had a big milestone birthday this year? My birthday is only 9 days after Seb’s (who is also born in the some year). A few months ago we decided that we should send off our 20s in style and indeed we did! We thought we’d celebrate it with one massive Halloween party in Tassie – and boy, it was some party! All our friends made such a HUGE effort with their costumes (some even flying down from Melbourne) awww, thank you guys. It was the best night of my life!

Well as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, so here are some photos from the night:

 

(Above) Day of the Dead, Superman & Robin (?), Zombie Bride, Queen of Hearts & Witchy poos,
Seb & I dressed as Skeletor & Black Swan, zombie beach grave, witch & evil Tinman

 

(Above) Jack Sparrow, glowing rats, illuminated skeletons and our amazing birthday
cake by Queen of Tarts!

 

This is too good and perfect for warm sunny days at the races.

 

 

Anyway, back to this weeks blog post.  I thought I’d make something quite fitting for MELBOURNE CUP DAY!!! (Which is today). Yes it’s the race that stops the nation! I know absolutely nothing about horse racing but it all that dressing up does look like fun doesn’t it? Is anybody out there going? I have $5 placed on who ever is in lane 1 – can anybody tell me who it is? See? Hopeless! Anyway, champagne is synonymous with all the classic races so I thought I’d make a little champagne cocktail. This is a little spin on the bellini cocktail. The peaches are blended into a sorbet with a few other ingredients and scooped into the champagne at the last minute. Delicious! I used tinned peaches so this can be made all year round but I found it didn’t set completely for some reason. Still, I highly recommend this sorbet and is great to eat as is or with your favorite champagne (or prosecco).

x e.

 

Peach, Honey & Mint Sorbet Bellinis

1kg tin of peaches and the syrup
3 tbs honey
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
juice of half a lemon

1. Place all ingredients into a food processor (remember to finely chop your mint before adding) and blitz until it’s smooth. Pour into a container and place in the freezer overnight or until frozen (about 4 hours).

2. Once frozen, cut the sorbet into cubes and place back into the food processor to give it another blitz. This will make the sorbet softer, easier to scoop and will make the ice crystals smaller. Place back into the same container and freeze for another hour or until firm.

3. Add a small scoop to your favourite Champagne or Prosecco and enjoy!

Strawberry & Ouzo Sorbet with Biscotti

By On 07/03/2012 In baking, Desserts, Food, Other With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Strawberry & Ouzo Sorbet with BiscottiPermalink

Well how was everybodys’ weekend? I don’t know about you but mine was great! First of all I had two pieces of good news on Friday afternoon…

1. I found out I got a new job (wooohoooo!) It was a three month process from the first interview, but it was worth the wait. Good things really do come to those who… well, you know ; )

2. The second bit of good news was that I won a competition from The Design Files blog! The new book by ‘The Little Veggie Patch Co.’ (who were guest bloggers on TDF last week) will be cherished dearly. This book will come in handy as Seb just made me a new planter box out of old floorboards. I look forward to seeing what else we can grow in our minuscule courtyard… I’ll keep you updated.

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On Friday afternoon, to congratulate me on these two wins, Seb came home with a bottle of amazing French Champagne and flowers – sheesh what a guy! Happiness = Champagne and flowers :) What a lovely surprise.

After all the exciting news I still had a weekend getaway to look forward to. A group of us drove down the rainy coast to Fairhaven and rented a shack. Although it was dark, gloomy and rainy, it meant we could light the open fire and play lots of card games in the warmth. Now that’s proper shack entertainment. My friend Rob hit the nail on the head when he said, “When you go to a shack you either want it to be really sunny and beautiful, or cold and rainy – anything in between is just meh”. It was quite fitting that we had the best of both…

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The next day the weather completely flipped. We had blue skies and glorious sunshine, so it was straight to the beach for a dunk in the the waves. From the beach we hiked up to a nearby lighthouse, which was apparently the location of the kids show ‘Round the Twist’ – for all you Aussie readers out there.

The Great Ocean Road is such a beautiful part of the country, I can’t wait to get back there for another adventure!

x e.

 

Strawberry & Ouzo Sorbet

Recipe by Lisa Featherby

750g hulled strawberries
130g icing sugar
120ml ouzo
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Purée all ingredients in a blender. If you don’t like the seeds, strain through a fine sieve and discard. Otherwise leave them in.

2. Place in a suitable sized bowl in the freezer until its set hard. Once completely frozen, place it back in the blender or food processor and blitz it again. Return it to the freezer for an hour or so more. This will soften up the sorbet so it’s easier to serve. Alternatively, freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturers’ instructions. Makes about 500ml.

 

Almond Biscotti

Recipe by Chrissy Freer

1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 eggs
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 cups (300g) plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g whole almonds (skin on)

1. Preheat oven to 170°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

2. Place sugar, eggs and grated lemon rind in a large bowl and beat well until pale and creamy.

3. Fold in sifted flour, baking powder and almonds, then use your hands to lightly knead dough on a floured work surface until the dough is smooth.

4. Divide the mixture in half. Form 2 long logs about 25cm long x 5cm wide and place on prepared baking tray, leaving space between logs. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is firm to the touch and slightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely (about an hour).

5. Preheat the oven to 140°C. Once dough is cool, use a small serrated knife to cut each log on the diagonal in 0.5cm slices.
Lay slices flat on the baking tray and return to oven for 15-20 minutes, turning once, until completely dried out. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.

Nectarine & Watermelon Sorbet

By On 30/01/2012 In Desserts, Food With 6 Comments Permanent Link to Nectarine & Watermelon SorbetPermalink

Oh my golly goodness, boy has it been hot in Melbourne. I love the heat however it’s completely put me off baking at the moment. Whilst we’re sweltering in this heat I thought it was the perfect time to make something icy and refreshing.

I made this up when I was in a little bit of a rush last week. It’s my own recipe and I have to say it’s a winner. I had four happy little ripe nectarines in the fruit bowl and half a juicy watermelon in the fridge… my over-fried brain immediately thought of sorbet!  I hadn’t made sorbet in at least 8 or 9 years and had forgotten just how easy was. I used to make an Italian style strawberry sorbet with whipped egg whites and white wine but this recipe is way easier. The proportions are just right so you can really taste the two flavours.

Anyway, I quickly whizzed-up a batch but forgot that it was going to take 4 hours to freeze! Duh. Needless to say it was worth the wait.  I finally had a little treat to escape the heat.

x e.

Ps. I’ve just discovered Pintrest and I have to say it’s life changing! Feel free to follow me here or let me know if you need an invite.

 

 

Nectarine & Watermelon Sorbet

300g or 4 nectarines – skinned
300g of pink watermelon flesh
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water

 

1. Dice nectarines and watermelon into a food processor and blitz until smooth.

2. Add warm water and sugar into a small bowl until sugar has dissolved.

3. Add sugar and water to the fruit and blend well. Pour into a bowl and place into the freezer. If you don’t have an ice cream machine and have time, stir the mixture every half an hour or hour and the sorbet will freeze to the right consistency.

4. If you don’t have time to stir, wait until it is completely frozen then cut it into cubes and blitz it in the food processor again until smooth. Pour this back into the same container and refreeze for an hour or so.

5. Of course if you’re lucky enough to have an ice cream machine, pop it in there until frozen!