Raspberry Rose Sorbet

Summer is well and truly here, we've been basking in a heatwave for weeks now, which is unheard of for Ireland. We have been living off ice cream, and so, after years of dithering, I finally invested in an ice cream maker. And mama are we having fun with it.

This was one of our first frozen delights. An intense ruby red sorbet which taste of pure summer. The tart juiciness of raspberries, mingling with the airy floral notes of rose. A match made in heaven.

We were looking to recreate a divine raspberry sorbet that we had whilst wandering the sweltering streets of Toulouse, France, on the first day of this month. I humbly think we bettered it!

Ingredients

1 pack frozen raspberries (350g) (about 4 1/2 US cups)

Sugar syrup made from 1 cup water and 1 cup granulated sugar

1/2-1 teaspoon rose water.

Method

First make the sugar syrup, by dissolving the sugar in the water in a pan, stir until fully dissolved and almost simmering.  Cool in fridge for an hour. Put the fruit in a blender, still frozen, pour over the cooled syrup and liquidise.

If the syrup is cold and raspberries frozen you should have a slush (this is very handy if you don't have an ice cream maker). Sieve. Discard pips. Add rose water, less is more, try 1/2 teaspoon first, then add more if desired. Remember it should taste over-sweet at the moment, it will seem less sweet when frozen.

Put in cream maker, (or straight in freezer tub and take out and stir once after an hour.) It should be ready to eat after 2-3 hours.

Dreams of MasterChef

I am a total MasterChef fanatic. COMPLETE. I watch them all. But not having RTE, I didn't know that there was an Irish version. Long story. Somehting to do with a brand new RTE aerial sitting in our garden for the past two years.... But I digress.

So when I was on my holliers in sunny Barcelona, I smugly said I was going to do NO work. Especially not checking emails, as he scrolls through his work emails on the i -phone.

"Not even one from MasterChef?" my hubby says to me, knowing just what  fan I am. "No!" says I, "Of course I don't have one from MasterChef. You're just trying to break me. To get me to check my emails so I can't win the smugness award."

"No he says, you really do, you have an email from MasterChef Ireland."

The conversation goes backwards and forwards like this. Until he starts to read it.

"Dear Lucy..."
OMG!!!! I've won, I've won.... my brain goes... forgetting the logical bit about how I had never entered, nor been in any stage of the comp, so how could I win.

But they contacted me. Personally. To ask me, to tell you that YOU can apply for the next series. So I thought I would. Just in case you're as big a fan as me... and have a functional RTE aerial!!

 

 

THE SEARCH IS ON TO FIND IRELAND’S NEXT MASTERCHEF!

Are you an amazing amateur cook with a passion for food?

Do you dream of pursuing that passion and possibly changing your life?

Have you got what it takes to impress in the MasterChef kitchen?

If so, we want to hear from you!

Don’t miss out, APPLY NOW for the chance to become the next MasterChef Ireland Champion and win a cash prize of €25,000!

Application deadline is 22^nd July 2013

For more information and to apply go to:

www.rte.ie/masterchef