[ice-cream] Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Sorbet
My latest Sorbet creation: Strawberry with Balsamic and Black Pepper. 😍
The balsamic gives it an amazing tang, and then after you've eaten it the pepper whispers to you, "I'm still here you know; now that the others have left us, we can finally enjoy each other's company privately". ;)
Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Sorbet
Once again, I referred to The Science of the Best Sorbet by Serious Eats as a guide.
Ingredients
• 1kg Chopped, Fresh Strawberries (pitted/leaves removed)
• 1 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/4 cup Boiled Water
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
Make Sugar Syrup
Melt sugar in water in a saucepan (that's big enough to fit your strawberries too) to create a sugar syrup. If it doesn't all melt, put the saucepan on a stovetop and heat until all the sugar is dissolved.
Prepare Fruit
Add Strawberries to your sugar syrup in your saucepan and cook with a medium heat (about what you'd use to scramble eggs - so not super hot and not too low). Stir until the strawberries explode with colour. Take off the heat and add the Balsamic Vinegar. Blend (I used a stick blender while it was still in the saucepan).
Add Pepper
Put freshly ground black pepper into a mortar and pestle and grind it until it's SUPER FINE. Then measure your 1/2 teaspoon, making sure that you only get the super-fine stuff. Add it to the strawberry and blend it again.
Strain your strawberry mixture through a sieve into a glass jar and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. I did mine overnight.
Put mixture through your ice-cream maker, per it's instructions. Pour into a freezer-friendly container, leaving space at the top for the mixture to expand - you don't want it to spill in your freezer, because then there's less for you to eat. ;)
Reflections
A mate of mine told me that an ice-cream parlour near his home in Seattle has a Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Ice-Cream that is divine, with similar properties that I described for my sorbet, but the creaminess of the ice-cream removes some of the lingering properties of the pepper.
Another mate of mine has introduced me to a Wildberry, Blackcurrant and Blood Orange Balsamic Vinegar by Your Inspiration At Home (YIAH) that is simply DIVINE! I cannot wait to try this recipe again using that balsamic rather than the standard balsamic that I used.
The balsamic gives it an amazing tang, and then after you've eaten it the pepper whispers to you, "I'm still here you know; now that the others have left us, we can finally enjoy each other's company privately". ;)
Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Sorbet
Once again, I referred to The Science of the Best Sorbet by Serious Eats as a guide.
Ingredients
• 1kg Chopped, Fresh Strawberries (pitted/leaves removed)
• 1 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/4 cup Boiled Water
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
Make Sugar Syrup
Melt sugar in water in a saucepan (that's big enough to fit your strawberries too) to create a sugar syrup. If it doesn't all melt, put the saucepan on a stovetop and heat until all the sugar is dissolved.
Prepare Fruit
Add Strawberries to your sugar syrup in your saucepan and cook with a medium heat (about what you'd use to scramble eggs - so not super hot and not too low). Stir until the strawberries explode with colour. Take off the heat and add the Balsamic Vinegar. Blend (I used a stick blender while it was still in the saucepan).
Add Pepper
Put freshly ground black pepper into a mortar and pestle and grind it until it's SUPER FINE. Then measure your 1/2 teaspoon, making sure that you only get the super-fine stuff. Add it to the strawberry and blend it again.
Strain your strawberry mixture through a sieve into a glass jar and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. I did mine overnight.
Put mixture through your ice-cream maker, per it's instructions. Pour into a freezer-friendly container, leaving space at the top for the mixture to expand - you don't want it to spill in your freezer, because then there's less for you to eat. ;)
Reflections
A mate of mine told me that an ice-cream parlour near his home in Seattle has a Strawberry, Balsamic and Black Pepper Ice-Cream that is divine, with similar properties that I described for my sorbet, but the creaminess of the ice-cream removes some of the lingering properties of the pepper.
Another mate of mine has introduced me to a Wildberry, Blackcurrant and Blood Orange Balsamic Vinegar by Your Inspiration At Home (YIAH) that is simply DIVINE! I cannot wait to try this recipe again using that balsamic rather than the standard balsamic that I used.