For the past weeks It could be said that the ‘part of the obsessed Anglophile will be played by Boulder Locavore’. After chancing upon mention of a beguiling potion called Hedgerow Gin I’ve been sleuthing local equivalents to Brittan’s wild hedgerow fruits. I’ve pinned any Brit or Brit-knowledgeable friends to the wall and peppered them with questions about the flavor profiles of their wild delicacies to fashion worthy substitutes to some of the historic recipes I’ve discovered of late.
Local, organic Italian Prune Plums from Jay Hill Farm
During one such session as I was pelting blogger friend Caroline, author of All That I’m Eating (a lovely blog featuring the local, seasonal food discoveries in Berkshire England) with questions about Wild Damson Plums and Sloes (a berry looking tart wild plum) on Twitter, when second British friend Rebecca of the blog Chow and Chatter (dietician, purveyor of delicious healthy recipes and social media goddess) piped up with a quick recipe link for this: Damson and Gin Sorbet. My heart began to race.
There was another factor involved in my reaction to the sorbet recipe, our weather; it’s hot. By the calendar it IS the first week of fall but only until 9:13 a.m. A jacket has been needed, even a woolen hat one or two days last week, but by mid morning summer togs are required and by mid afternoon shamelessly wearing a bathing suit in public has been tempting thanks to 90 degree F (32.5 C) heat. Suffice it to say sorbet, let alone of the plum variety, has sounded like a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
Though I could not replicate the full recipe I felt I could reproduce it with my own local spin, paying homage to the English fruits I so covet. Who knows; maybe someone on the other side of the pond will read this and drool over Jay Hill Farms organic Italian Prune Plums!
Plum Rosemary-Gin Sorbet
In the spirit of experiencing this recipe in some form, should you not have this specific plum variety, try a different one. If you don’t want to make a batch of Rosemary-Infused Gin, use regular gin.
Ingredients:
· 3 ounces granulated sugar
· 1 ½ pounds Italian Prune Plums, cut in half and pitted
· 3 ½ tablespoons Rosemary-Infused Gin (clickfor recipe)
· 1 tablespoon Crème de Cassis
· 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1. In a small pan, add the sugar to 4 ounces water. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 5 minutes until sugar fully dissolves. Stir while mixture boils. Remove from heat.
2. In a medium size pan, place all plum halves with ¼ cup water. Bring to a simmer over low heat, cover, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until fruit has softened (you are essentially lightly steaming the fruit to soften it making the juice able to more freely be extracted from the fruit). Remove from heat.
3. Place the plums and any liquid into a food mill and process with a medium sized disc until all available juice and pulp has been extracted. If you do not have a food mill, place plums and liquid into a sieve or strainer and push through with a spoon to extract the pulp and juice. Discard the peel.
4. Add the plum mixture to the sugar syrup. Add the gin, Crème de Cassis and lemon juice. Stir to combine and cool in the refrigerator until fully chilled or overnight.
Freezing the Sorbet:
Electric Ice Cream machine: Process by manufacturer’s instruction.
Without a machine: Place sorbet in a shallow freezer-proof pan. Allow to almost freeze, and stir the mixture. Repeat the freeze/stir process a few times to ensure a consistent texture. The alcohol prevents the sorbet from a completely rock hard freeze allowing the mixing not to be too difficult.
This sorbet is refreshing with depth of flavor and the most beautiful raspberry color from the plum skins (the flesh of this variety plum is yellow). Whether providing a respite from Mother Nature’s heat or a celebration of seasonal plums, it’s a total winner.
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Italian plums are my favorite. The addition of Cassis is a great idea.
Love the color combinations in your pictures Toni. The color of the towel goes perfectly with the sorbet. Where did you find this beat up metal pan?
I love the local organic plums. This sorbet looks sooo refreshing! Our temperatures are still well into the 90's here in south Florida as well so we are still trying to cool off with such treats. I'm going to have to dig out my ice cream maker this weekend.
Since I don't like gin on it's own, the thought of rosemary infused gin is divine. My father-in-law may not like his martini anymore, but we'll deal with that next time he visits.
That sorbet is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color that the plums gave it. You have a perfect consistency as well. Bravo for a beautiful result to all your research!
Looks delicious!
Wow this looks so delicious and your bowls are just TOO cute!!!
I am still coveting those plums. This sorbet looks delicious!
I think your sorbet looks fabulous. I love the colour and I could just do with a nice bowlful on this rather warm day. It would be a more forgiving way to enjoy gin at 12pm.
Just a suggestion… Instead of your freeze & scrape method…
Freeze the entire batch on a sheet pan or into an ice cube tray. Allow to set overnight. Then toss it into a food processer until smooth like a slushy. Return it to a larger pan to freeze a second time.
This method will yield a creamier texture that is similar to traditional churned sorbets. The food processor will break down the ice crystals more finely and allow for a little bit of aeration.
(I'm a pastry chef. I've used the same method in a pinch when staying with someone who wants awesome treats but has a less-than-awesome gadget selection!)
What a great sorbet! I love plums and gin too so know this has to be good. I'm happy to find your blog and will be looking around now.
what a beautiful color to the sorbet, I have never had plum flavored ice cream of any type, I bet it was so very flavorful! I may have to substitute vodka for the gin, and I'll just take mine straight up please!
Looks so tempting with the beautiful color, what more with gin, I can't resist.
Oh this looks so heavenly! I've always preferred sorbets over ice cream so this is my kind of treat =)
This combination of flavors sounds just perfect! It doesn't hurt that it has all of my favorite things either.
Such a pretty sorbet!