Saturday 15 June 2013

2 Minute Berry Sorbet / Ice-cream.

 
  For those of you who don't like raw eggs, you probably want to skip this post.  As for me, I'm quite happy to polish off moussey, meringuey, delicious-uncooked-eggy-things, so if you find yourself in that "Oh no, don't want to offend the host" situation, you know who to swap bowls with.  That said, I'm sure if you played around you could find a substitute for the egg and this recipe would still work.

  This one is thanks to my wonderful husband.  He will quite often announce that he feels like some dessert at around 9pm when there is no time for planning, preparing or buying ingredients.  So we'll trawl the internet using words like "quick and easy" combined with the 2 or 3 ingredients we have available.  Sometimes it all ends in disaster, complete with ruined food, a cranky, unsuccessful wife and a cranky, hungry husband.  Other times, we find recipes we end up using over and over - like this one!

 In this demo I'm using raspberries, but we also enjoy using strawberries.  I find the strawberry version sweeter and creamier, while the raspberry is more like sorbet.  Hence, I couldn't decide whether to call it ice-cream or sorbet.

Ingredients  (serves 2, but you could probably stretch it further if you aren't greedy)
300g frozen berries
1-2 Tbs icing sugar (I used normal sugar this time and it worked fine)
1 egg

  For anyone interested, my calorie counter puts this at 148 cal per serve.

  Now, I know I said "2 minute" in the title, but if your berries aren't already frozen, it won't be.  If using fresh strawberries, chop the tops off first.  Chuck your berries on a tray or in a bag and freeze them for at least half an hour.

  On with the show. Please note that if you're using strawberries, it will probably yield a slightly different and paler result than what's shown in these photos.  Don't worry - it's hard to stuff this up!

1. Put the frozen berries and 1-2 Tbs of icing sugar (or normal sugar) in your food processor and blitz for 10 seconds or so until they're chopped up.  If it seems like I added too much sugar... I did. Whoops.

 
 
2. Add the egg. Blitz until it reaches the consistency you like. It won't need long - we're not aiming for soup.  You should see it become lighter in colour.  Depending on the size of your egg and how frozen your berries are, you might find you're lacking moisture.  If so, you can add a little milk or another egg.


 

 
 
As you can see in this picture, compared with that at the top of the page, mine had already started to melt while I fumbled around with the camera, so make sure it's served immediately.  My husband and I usually finish it off between the two of us, straight out of the mixing bowl, so I'm yet to try freezing and saving for later.
 
Also, I'm sure there are many things one could add or replace, like cream etc. I haven't bothered experimenting because I know I like this as is, I always have the stuff, and I would hate to waste those beautiful berries if I got it wrong!
 
Don't forget toothpicks for those seeds you'll be picking out of your teeth for the rest of the night. Happy eating!