Peach sorbet recipe
A great peach has to be the defining fruit of summer – it should be plumptuous, exceedingly juicy, and fresh. It is a sin to make this gelato with anything but the finest, ripest, juiciest peaches – and equally sinful to ruin a perfect peach by cooking it or turning it into a sorbet. That second evil is justified only if you buy too many peaches to eat in the first place. Buy a load, eat as many as you can and freeze the rest into gelato.
You can use white or yellow peaches (or indeed nectarines) here. You can leave the skin on but if you would rather peel them, use a serrated peeler or dip the fruit for 10 seconds in unsalted boiling water, then refresh in cold water and slip off the skins by hand.
This recipe makes about 1 litre (1.7 pints), or 15 scoops.
Note: you will need an ice cream machine and churn time isn't included in the timings.
Ingredients
For the sorbet syrup (yields 400ml/14 floz)- 125 g granulated or caster sugar
- 1 tsp (level) locust bean gum powder; or 2 tablespoons starch (arrowroot or cornflour)
- 225 ml water
- 50 g glucose (aka dextrose) syrup or powder, or light runny honey
- 3 –5 very ripe white or yellow peaches (about 800–900g/28–32oz)
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Ice cream
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 7
Step-by-step
To make the sorbet syrup
- In a small bowl, stir the sugar and locust bean powder or starch together thoroughly.
- Put the water and the glucose or runny honey in a saucepan. Heat gently to bring just to the boil.
- Pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan in a steady stream, stirring all the while with a whisk. Bring back to just boiling, then remove from the heat.
- Leave the syrup to cool until tepid before using. (It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.)
To make the peach gelato
- Stone the peaches and cut into chunks.
- Blend the peach flesh finely with the sorbet syrup, then pass it through a sieve into a bowl. (Discard the contents of the sieve.)
- Churn the mixture in your ice-cream machine until fully firm.
- Before serving, put the peach gelato in the freezer for half an hour or so to firm up. If it has been stored in the freezer longer and is too firm, allow it to soften in the fridge until scoopable.
This recipe is from Gelupo Gelato by Jacob Kenedy (Bloomsbury Publishing, £14.99). Out now. Photography by Steve Joyce, illustrations by Marta Andren, Here Design.
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