Friday, July 03, 2009

Currant Sorbet

What a wonderful treat on a hot summer day.

My currant bushes are really loaded - I'm going to have lots of currants to enjoy this year.

I made my sorbet different this time. I juiced the currants by using my food mill that I attach to my kitchen aid mixer.

The juice was really concentrated so I took 1 cup of juice, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of raw sugar and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum.

The xanthan gum is a stabilizer - I use it a lot in gluten free baking so I always have it on hand - it is expensive - like $12 for a bag - but a little goes a long way. It keeps the sorbet nice and creamy - otherwise it is nice when it is fresh, but if you put it in the freezer for later, it will be a hard crystallized block.

I heated the juice mixture until the sugar was dissolved. Then I let it cool to room temperature and then I put it in my electric ice cream maker.

The juice mixture was a pretty dark red when I put it in the ice cream maker but as it froze, it turned a nice fluffy pink color. It is just so light and airy and oh so yummy - not to mention full of all kinds of wonderful phytonutrients.

3 comments:

Chris said...

Oh my, that looks good. I was just given an ice cream maker as a gift and the red currants are ripening fast. I will have to try this!

GaryB said...

Can anyone tell me where to buy currants in the metro area? My wife has already made our strawberry jam and is ready to make currant raspberry jam next.

GaryB in New Brighton

Kathi said...

Hi Gary,

I did a search on Minnesota Grown and got Natura Farms ( http://www.naturafarms.com/)in Forest Lake/Hugo, Walhfor's (763-473-7770) Raspberry Farm in Long Lake and Apple Jack Orchards (http://www.applejackorchards.com/) in Delano.

Minnesota Grown is a great resource for finding local produce.
http://www3.mda.state.mn.us/mngrown/home.aspx