Gin sorbet with pickled blackberry, poached pear and juniper
This refreshing dessert of lemon and gin sorbet is by Emily Collins, the pastry chef at Ruth Hansom's The Princess of Shoreditch. Served with sharp pickled blackberries, sweet poached pear and a juniper flavoured opaline tuile decorated with fresh mint leaves. The recipe makes more sorbet than needed but will keep for months stored in the freezer.
Ingredients
Gin sorbet
- 600g of water
- 240g of caster sugar
- 6g of Stabiliser Stab 2000
- 1g of xanthan gum
- 100ml of gin , Ruth uses Chapel Down gin
- 1 lemon , juiced
Pickled blackberries and lemon gel
- 200g of water
- 200g of lemon juice
- 200g of caster sugar
- 15 juniper berries , bashed
- 15g of ultratex
- 16 blackberries
Poached pears
Opaline
- 250g of caster sugar
- 100g of liquid glucose
- 1 pinch of ground juniper berries
To serve
Equipment
- Pacojet or ice cream maker
- Vacuum bag and machine
- Silpat mat
- 8cm metal rings
- Spice grinder
- Thermomix or blender
Method
Make the gin sorbet at least a day in advance. Place 200g of the water in a pan and begin to heat. Mix together the sugar, Stab 2000 and xanthan gum and add to the warmed glucose mixture, then gradually bring the whole pan to the boil. As soon as it's boiling, remove from the heat and whisk in the rest of the water (400g), lemon juice and gin. Place in a Pacojet or ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Reserve in the freezer until needed
The pickled blackberries take 2 hours to pickle, so make these next. Heat the water, sugar and juniper berries together until the sugar has dissolved then leave to cool. Once cooled, stir in the lemon juice
- 200g of water
- 200g of caster sugar
- 15 juniper berries , bashed
- 200g of lemon juice
Cut the blackberries in half (or into 3 round slices if they're particularly big). Submerge in the cooled pickling liquid then reserve in the fridge. These will be ready in a couple of hours and will keep for roughly 5 days
- 16 blackberries
For the poached pears, make the poaching syrup first by bringing the sugar, water, lemon juice and mint to the boil, then leave to cool. Peel the pears and cut lengthways into 3 or 4 slices, 1cm wide (avoiding the core). Submerge the pears in the syrup, transfer to a vacuum bag and seal (if you don't have a vacuum sealer, see below). Place the bag in a steamer for 5-10 minutes and steam until the pears just start to soften, then place the bag directly into an ice bath to cool down. Once cool, cut the pears into 1cm cubes. You could also simmer the pears in the liquor in a pan if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, though you may need to double the poaching liquor amount
To make then juniper opaline discs, preheat an oven to 160ºC/gas mark 2 (no fan). Bring the glucose and sugar to the boil in a small saucepan until it reaches a light yellow colour. Pour onto a silpat mat or tray lined with baking paper and leave to cool completely. When completely cool and hard, break up carefully and put in a blender. Blitz until you have a fine powder
- 100g of liquid glucose
- 250g of caster sugar
Using a small fine sieve, sieve the powder evenly over a silpat mat or tray lined with baking paper. This layer should be thick enough so that you can no longer see the mat underneath. Using a cutter the size of the inside of the bowl you plan to use (Ruth uses an 8cm cutter), make 8 rings in the powder
Sprinkle a pinch of ground juniper berries over the circles. Place in the oven for roughly 2 minutes, until the white powder is clear. Remove from the oven and immediately place the mat, sugar-side down, on your work surface. Leave to cool. Slowly peel off the mat and you will be left with the circles; any excess can be blended and used again
- 1 pinch of ground juniper berries
To make the lemon gel, remove the pickled blackberries from their liquor and set aside. Transfer the pickling liquor to a blender with the ultratex and blend into a purée. Transfer to a piping bag
- 15g of ultratex
To plate, place 2 fresh blackberries, 3 pieces of pickled blackberries and 5 pieces of poached pear in the bottom of each bowl. Decorate a juniper opaline disc with baby mint leaves or mint cress, using the lemon pickle gel to stick them onto the disc. Place a scoop of gin sorbet on top of the fruits in each bowl and place the opaline disc on the top
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Gin sorbet with pickled blackberry, poached pear and juniper
