Eat With The Pandits

Plum sorbet is summers finest outcome! It’s a pity that the season is so short! So make this plum sorbet when the opportunity presents and be the hero!

Stone fruits are natures gift to mankind. Come Summer and the markets in Bombay are overflowing with Plums, Cherries, Peaches and what not. Most of these come from the other states, and by the time they get to our hands, they’ve seen a lot of the country.

Stone fruits are also very versatile, though a little to tricky to work with. Because they have such a characteristic flavour, and are usually high on sugar, they lend themselves beautifully to a variety of things you can make – confectionery, bakery and of course iced desserts!

One of our favourite things to make are Sorbets! Sorbets are probably the easiest of all iced desserts you could make. And they go fast! We literally churn a new batch every other day. Amongst sorbets, the first of the season is usually a plum sorbet. This recipe is an adaptation from David Lebovitz’, simple, yet very effective recipe.

Here is how you can make it.

Ingredients for Plum Sorbet:

1. 1 kg of ripe plums
2. Half a cup of sugar
3. 1 cup water
4. 2 teaspoons of Vodka (YAAAAY!)
5. 2-3 drops of lemon

Recipe for Sorbet:

1. Pit the plums (which is a fancy way of saying remove the flesh from the plums). Plums are very delicate so be gentle. One of the easiest ways of doing this is to cut along the centre of the plum, and twist the two halves. Do this over a pan, so the juice doesn’t go waste.
2. Cook the pitted plums with water in a heavy bottomed pan. Cover the pan. Keep stirring, and take of the heat when the plums are cooked. Should take about 10-12 minutes. Let this cool to room temperature. A kilo of plums should give you about 1200 ml of puree.
3. Puree the above mixture in your kitchen blender.
4. Take 200 ml of the plum puree and blend it with sugar in the heavy bottomed pan. Once the sugar dissolves completely, take this off the heat and add the remainder of the puree. Mix nicely.
5. Now add the two teaspoons of vodka. Alcohol works as an anti-freeze agent and will make the sorbet super smooth and scoop able. Don’t add more than this, else the sorbet won’t freeze at all. The quantity we used is almost negligible, so don’t worry about letting your kids eat this sorbet. But in the end, your the parent, and it is completely your call. :)
6. Add a couple of drops o lemon juice. This will elevate the flavour of the plums.
7. Let this mixture now chill in the fridge for about 4-5 hours.
8. Once it’s chilled, churn it in your ice cream machine. If you don’t have an ice cream machine, churn it in a blender, and freeze in an airtight container. I usually prefer a Borosil container.

And that’s it! If you want to make it even more fun, load the finished puree in an ice tray, and add a toothpick so that it becomes like an ice dolly!

So go on!

Make your own sorbet! You know it’s healthy, has no preservatives and it is something you and your child can do together!

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Happy sorbetting!