Cherries make a happy sticky red mess whether you’re eating or working with them in the kitchen. The juicier they are, the bigger the mess they make. I know this from first hand experience because I was still finding a few red spots today even though I thought I had done a superb job of cleaning up after myself! I might need one of those hazmat style protection wraps for my kitchen or one big “kitchen bib”. But don’t let the mess scare you off, this sorbet will make you very happy this summer.
I added a good dose of dark Indian tea leaves, the Darjeeling kind and infused the woody tea flavors into the sugar syrup before mixing it in with the fresh lemon juice and cherries. Once you make it, you can do what I did, serve it for tea in tea cups. It felt somewhat appropriate…..
Tea really does make everything better but it makes good things even better!
Here are some of favorite food links of the week,
- These dulce de leche cheesecake pops by Pass the Sushi look good to begin with but they also have rumchata in them!
- This fresh fruit cake by Not Without Salt is just spectacular and pure genius!
- This braised spiced pork noodle dish from Bon Appetit looks delicious and I need to make it soon.
- The Bonjon Gourmet made a rhubarb, almond and honey tart that looks pretty tasty and reminded me that I haven’t cooked any rhubarb this year!
cherry darjeeling tea lemon sorbet
yields: 4-6 servings
ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup (7 3/8 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon darjeeling tea leaves
5 3/4 ounces fresh ripe cherries, cleaned, sliced in half with stalks and stones removed
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1. In a medium sized saucepan bring the water, sugar and tea leaves to a boil on a medium high flame to prepare a simple syrup. Once the liquid reaches a rolling boil, remove from the stove and strain the liquid through a tea strainer and discard the tea leaves. Keep the strained syrup aside until ready to use.
2. Place the cherries and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the cherries have formed a smooth puree. You can do this with an immersion blender too, just pulse until the cherries are completely pureed. Strain the puree through a sieve and press the pulp in the strainer with a spoon to squeeze as much fruit pulp as you can out. Save the fruit bits left behind in the strainer (I add them to pancakes or muffins or just eat them raw). With a whisk mix the strained cherry puree into the tea infused simple syrup to prepare the sorbet base.
3. Place the sorbet base into a clean gallon ziplock bag. Seal the bag airtight and place it an ice water bath for 20 minutes to cool completely.
4. Pour the chilled sorbet base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker. Churn for about 20 minutes or until the sorbet is completely formed, it will acquire a slightly milky pink color. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight freezer safe container and cover with a layer of parchment paper. Press the surface of the paper gently to remove any trapped air bubbles. Freeze for at least 4 to 6 hours to firm completely before serving.
10 Responses
A wonderful sorbet! So refreshing and delightfully seasonal.
Cheers,
Rosa
Love this Nik! The cherry with the tea and lemon sounds amazing…
Ooo, absolutely-positively lovely!! Brilliant use of a darling tea cup.
hehe!! Cherries are fussy to work with. Last summer I discovered a swell little trick; a piping tip (for frosting) makes a clever cherry pitter! Far less drama. 😀
This sorbet is so classy! Love this.
I had to back up. I missed the post where you had arrived! I look forward to your trip photos, when you get organized. Albeit sometimes I feel like I am never really organized. But think how boring one would be if they were always organized. It often squelches the free flowing creativity. One has to be willing to color outside the lines. I am enchanted with this sorbet. Any recipe that incorporates tea as an ingredients has my attention.
This looks so refreshing, Nik. And I love the photos in the tea cups. What a wonderful idea. D
Love the infusion. Brilliant and a perfect summer dessert.
Love this Nik! The flavors are absolutely amazing!!
ooh – what a great combination – love the use of tea!
Such an interesting mixture of flavours – can't wait to try it.