Anyone for a mulled wine sorbet?

Here are two very Christmassy ideas that I’ve plundered shamelessly from Kieran Murphy’s foodie blog: sparkling wine sorbets, and sorbets made from leftover mulled wine.

(1) Blanquette de Limoux sorbet

Kieran runs Murphys Ice Cream in Dingle, County Kerry, and for the past three years or so they have been making a champagne sorbet with Dom Perignon.

Or you could make one with pink champagne. But when you’re in the Languedoc, champagne is out of the question. It just has to be the splendid  Blanquette de Limoux. Here’s my recipe for B de L sorbet,  which is tangy, zingy and I bet it’s just as good as any champagne version.

1. Dissolve 300 grams of sugar in half a litre of bottled spring water.
2. Cool the mixture down completely.
3. Add a third of a bottle of Blanquette de Limoux, and lemon juice to taste (I find it takes a couple of lemons) to counteract the sweetness.
4. Pour the liquid into a plastic tub with a cover, and put it in the freezer.
5. Take it out briefly every hour or so to break up the ice with a fork or a whisk, then return it to the freezer. It can take quite a while to set – maybe the alcohol affects the freezing process?
6. About 15 or 20 minutes before serving, take the tub out from the freezer and allow it to thaw slightly. A sorbet shouldn’t be as hard as a lolly, or as soft as a “slushy” either.

“It’s hard to make sorbet without an ice cream machine. You will need to interrupt the freezing process and stir, or you will be left with a block of ice! The more times you do this, the better the consistency will be.”

- Kieran Murphy, IceCreamIreland.com

(2) Mulled wine sorbets

Kieran’s crew also came up with a mulled wine sorbet recipe after a Galway cafe asked for it for its Christmas menu. Here’s my simplified version:

1. Take your mulled wine, which I’m assuming is already cooled down completely, and strain it to remove any cloves, lemon peel etc.
2. Freeze as you would any sorbet (see above)
3. Serve in small wine glasses, garnished with a slice of orange.

Related posts:

• Mulled wine recipes
• ‘She wore a raspberry purée…’ – includes a raspberry sorbet recipe
• Elderflower champagne – we might make some sorbet from a couple of bottles still left after our elderflower harvest in June

[Via http://irishherault.wordpress.com]

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