Lemon, Lime and Peppermint Sorbet

Summer's here!!   So I thought I'd share this fabulously easy and utterly delicious Jamie Oliver recipe with you.   One of my sons came back from a trip enthusing about some Mojito sorbet he'd eaten in Chile, which seemed to be a combination of these flavours.   Jamie's recipe totally fitted the bill, and one of my other sons, quite unknowing, said that the sorbet tasted just like a Mojito.   There is no alcohol in the sorbet, but the flavour is quite incredible.  I made this one for a special celebration lunch, so made an ice bowl as well.   It's also easy to make, it just takes a lot of freezer space and flowers...

Lemon, lime and peppermint sorbet

Lemon, Lime and Peppermint Sorbet

7oz/200g sugar

8 fl oz/250ml water

5 large lemons, zest and juice

5 limes, zest and juice

1 bunch of fresh mint

First make the stock syrup by putting the water and sugar into a pan and heating until the sugar has dissolved.  Simmer for 5 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and leave it to cool entirely (you can put it in the freezer!).   This keeps for weeks, so you could make double quantity and put half in the fridge for another time.

Add the juice and zest to the mixture, stir well and churn the mixture in an ice cream maker.   I found it worked best to put the mint in later, as it got stuck on the blades of the churn.   Alternatively, freeze in a shallow container in the freezer, breaking it up with a fork every half hour or so to stop large crystals from forming.   

This makes enough to serve 4 people, roughly a pint or so.  It is best served slightly less than rock hard. 

To make it more like a sherbet, add 1 egg white to the ice cream maker, or whisk the whites and fold them into the mix if you are open freezing it.

Ice Bowl

2 bowls

parcel tape and a couple of heavy tins 

flowers 

cooled boiled water/mineral water (this helps keep the ice clear)

Choose two bowls with a similar shape - do I have to tell you to have one smaller than the other?  Thought not!  Pick pretty flowers.  Pour some water into the larger bowl, add some of the flowers.  Place the smaller bowl on top.  Push the rest of the flowers in round the edges, adding more water.  The second bowl will rise, so put the tins into it before strapping the parcel tape across the top to keep the second bowl level with the first and in the centre.   Fill up with the water - you might need to check the tape - and add another food tin.    Freeze overnight until solid.

To use - allow the bowl to defrost just a little before unmoulding it and adding the sorbet.  It will be a wonderful centrepiece - some people commented on how pretty the flowers were as they appeared as the ice melted.   Just make sure that the ice bowl is in a container that can hold the inevitable meltwater!