January 30 - February 5, 2011: Cherry sorbet

Though three years have passed, I didn't forget Lucy's comment about David Lebovitz's cherry sorbet.  And finally I've made it happen this summer.  It's one of David's less fussy recipes (a feature I'm sure appealed to Lucy); the ingredients are just cooked down for a quarter hour, pureed in a blender than cooled and churned.

I skipped the almond extract/kirsch element of the original recipe, since I hate one and lack the other.  And I added my staple icecream-making step of straining the mixture for guaranteed smoothness.  Regardless, I imagine that my sorbet shared the same key element as David and Lucy's batches - a pure, intense cherry flavour.

Since the cherries I used were dark, over-ripe and very sweet the taste here was admittedly a little flat.  I bet other cherry (and berry) varieties would show more moxie.  A bit more lemon juice or some liquor would no doubt do the trick too.  It's certainly a base worth tinkering with - not too fiddly, it churns to a beautiful light texture, and allows plenty of space for the feature fruit to shine.

Cherry sorbet
(adapted slightly from a recipe in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop)

~500g cherries
1/2 cup water
scant 1/2 cup castor sugar
squeeze of lemon juice

Remove the stems and pits from the cherries; you can be messy about it since they'll be pureed eventually. Place all of the ingredients in a small-medium saucepan over moderate heat. Stir them occasionally as they cook for 10-15 minutes and take them off the heat when the cherries are soft all the way through.

Bring the mixture to room temperature, then puree it in a blender or food processor. Strain the mixture then chill it thoroughly in the fridge.

Churn the mixture in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.