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| Ingredients | | Nectarine Sorbet | | 250g caster sugar | | 125ml water | | 750g nectarines, washed | | 2 tablespoons lemon juice | | Lemon Tuiles | | 60g caster sugar | | 60g flour | | finely grated zest of 1 lemon | | 2 egg whites | | 70g unsalted butter, melted and cooled |
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| Nectarine Sorbet With Lemon Tuiles |
| 26 / 02 / 07 Ginny Grant, Issue 121 |
| Photography by Aaron McLean |
| Sorbets make a refreshing end to a meal or a daytime treat. Here, I have used nectarines which, puréed with their skins, give the sorbet a salmon hue. This recipe could also be made with plums, apricots or peaches, though if you use peaches you’ll have to remove the skin before puréeing. The lemon tuiles (French for tiles) add a crisp component to the dessert. |
Method |
Nectarine Sorbet
Gently heat the caster sugar and water until the sugar has dissolved then set aside to cool. This will make more syrup than you will require, but it can be used for other purposes.
Stone the nectarines and purée with the lemon juice until smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove the skins. The ripeness of the fruit should dictate how much sugar syrup to add. Start with 1⁄4 cup measures, then taste. Because the frozen sorbet is so cold, you need to add a little more sugar to bring out the flavour. I like the sweetness to work in contrast with some tartness, achieved by adding a little more lemon juice. But don’t add so much that you overpower the fruit.
If you have an ice-cream machine, churn the purée to the manufacturer’s instructions. Otherwise place the purée in a large dish and freeze. Check it every 20 minutes and break up the crystals with a fork . When it has reached the desired consistency, place in an airtight container, smooth down and freeze until ready to use. Sorbets such as this really need to be eaten within 2-3 days; otherwise they lose their fresh flavour.
Lemon Tuiles
Mix together the caster sugar, flour and zest. Add the egg whites and stir until the batter is smooth then add the butter and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using (at this stage the batter can be kept refrigerated for up to 1 week).
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Butter a baking tray or, even better, line with a silicon baking sheet. Drop small teaspoonfuls of the batter on the sheet, ensuring you leave gaps to allow for spreading. Use a spatula to spread the batter very thinly in a circular shape. Bake for 5-7 minutes until golden.
When the biscuits come out of the oven they are pliable; drape over a rolling pin until cool to shape into tuiles (resembling curved roof tiles) or leave to cool flat on the tray to give you wafers. You could make cups by cooling the biscuits over an upturned jar. Or spread the batter thinly over the entire baking sheet then, once cooked and cooled, it can be broken into irregular-shaped shards.
Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. These will keep crisp for a few days. Serves 4.
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