How to Make Your Own Sorbet with Rose Petals
Recipe for Homemade Rose Petal Sorbet: Low Fat Italian Dessert
Red Rose Sorbet - Sorbetto Di Rosa Rossa
This recipe for a sophisticated rose petal sorbet – Sorbetto di Rosa Rossa - is taken from Ices Italia (Pavilion, £20- click here to purchase), a new book by food writer Linda Tubby. As the title suggests, it’s devoted to recipes for gelati - traditional Italian ice-creams – as well as sorbets, granitas and semi-freddos. You can read a review of Ices Italia here. You can find another recipe from this book - Grattachecca, or Roman Granita on these pages.
Make sure your scented rose blooms are from a source that does not use chemical sprays. One of the many uses of glycerine is to preserve flowers, and here it works its alchemy to transform the unpromising murky colour of the steeped petals into something special. As a child (writes Linda Tubby) I would make perfumed potions from rose petals and would always be disappointed with the colour until my mother showed me this trick.
Ingredients for Red Rose Sorbet - Serves 4–6
- 250 g/9 oz/11/4 cups caster (superfine) sugar
- 450 ml/15 fl oz/scant 2 cups cold water
- 100 g/4 oz heavily scented red rose petals, about 16 roses, plus extra petals for crystallizing, or use the ready-made sort
- 6 tbsp rose essence (rosewater)
- 2 tsp glycerine
- Juice of 1 lemon
For crystallizing:
- 1 egg white, lightly whisked
- 100 g/4 oz/1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
Method
1. Put the sugar and 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup of the water in a saucepan and heat gently to allow the sugar to dissolve, about 4 minutes. Put the rose petals into the sugar syrup just to wilt them slightly, then add 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup cold water and the rose essence and leave to cool for 30 minutes. When cooled add the glycerine.
2. Leave the petals to steep for 5 hours, or overnight, giving the petals the occasional squeeze.
3. Add the lemon juice and pour the mixture through a sieve (strainer) set over a bowl. Churn using an ice cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions until frozen, or still freeze (see below).
4. Transfer to a freezerproof container, cover and freeze for 4 hours before serving.
If it is frozen for longer and becomes too hard, remove lid and transfer to the refrigerator 20–30 minutes before serving to soften.
5. To make the crystallized petals, paint the extra rose petals with egg white and dip into the caster (superfine) sugar. Lay them on a wire rack in a warm, dry place until crunchy, then store in an airtight container for up to a week.
To still freeze:
* Put the sorbet mixture into a suitably sized rigid freezerproof container, ideally one with a clearance of about 3cm (1 ¼ inches) between the liquid and the top of the container, so when you use the beaters the mixture will not fly out.
* Put the container uncovered in the coldest part of the freezer directly in contact with the open bars if possible. Freeze sorbet for 1 ½ hours, checking after the first hour. The quantities and ingredients for each recipe will vary and affect precise freezing times.
* Then, using a fork, dig out the frozen edges and corners into the slushy centre and whisk the mixture with electric beaters or hand whisk until it is broken up and slushy. Repeat the freezing and whisking process again then refreeze until evenly firm but not frozen solid (about 2 hours).
* Next, transfer to a food processor and process for 1-2 minutes until smooth. If the mixture clumps together during the final processing stop the motor, break up the lumps with a fork and continue processing.
* Transfer the mixture into a freezerproof container and follow instructions from 4 above.
Rose Petal Sorbet
|
More in Food & Drink
Latest Articles