Beetroot sorbet
Thanks to the stealth ebay assassin skills of Nina, our kitchen is now sporting a much larger fridge freezer. Now what better use of extra freezer space is there than to fill it? …With sorbet!
I fancied making something a little more unusual than the usual raspberry or lemon variety and set my thoughts on beetroot. It’s spectacularly rich in colour, its in season, has a natural sweet taste and as it is a vegetable must surely count as one of my five a day?
Anyway I was quite pleased with my idea and recipe, stupidly thinking I had come up with an original concept. I could see it now a paper back deals; book signings at my local corner shop, my own range of spoons, perhaps even a blog. Alas when I jumped onto the World Wide Web I discovered that was not the case, it had already been thought of. Not to be deterred I set about making root vegetable sorbet and flipping nice it is too, an interesting mix of sweet and earthy. I think you will agree it’s quite a magnificent shade of crimson purple.
Sorbet is surprisingly easy to make, just a little fiddly if you don’t have one of those ice cream maker gadgets. Give it a go or be even crazier and substitute the beetroot for carrots.
Purple meanies
Prep time: 30-40 mins
Freezing time: 6 Hours
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized beetroot (600-800g)
- 150ml cloudy apple juice
- 100ml water
- 160g caster sugar
Simply beetroot
Method
- Before you start wear an apron, something old and dark or prepare naked. It doesn’t matter how careful you are, beetroot juice gets everywhere.
- Remove the leaves from the beetroot. Reserve a couple of small young leaves for garnish.
- Boil the beetroot whole until soft all the way through, 40 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the beetroot. Top up the water to make sure the beetroot stay submerged.
- Once boiled set aside to cool, then peel and roughly dice.
- In a pan heat the apple juice, water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved, also set aside to cool.
- Once cooled place the peeled beetroot and the liquid in a blender. Blend into a puree.
- Sieve the pulp and the juice and place into a not metallic shallow freezer proof container with a lid.
- After about 1 hour remove from the freezer and whisk (preferably with an electric whisk). This is to prevent large ice crystals forming.
- Repeat each hour for the first 3 or 4 hours.
- After 5-6 hours the sorbet is ready, I served with mini pancakes, but they go best with something savoury such as pork belly or even as a palate cleanser.
Okay thats enough beetroot for a while, next post something Mexican or Italian.
Dessert or entree?
The last mouthful
About the Author
Gareth Englishman in Sydney loves a whisky, pies and all things savoury. Digital Marketer by day, cook the rest of the time. Amateur writer, photographer & aspiring anthropologists.
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HAHAHA prepare naked!! i am the world’s messiest person i think i would be red from head to toe!
Yeah it’s a great idea until the neighbours start pointing at me from their window
Lovely photographs Gareth and hehe cute story about your beetroot idea! 😛
Thanks Lorraine, yeah was looking forward to a range of spoons with my name on them.