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Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet

Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet is a traditional British recipe for a classic sorbet made from s syrup of green gooseberries and elderflowers. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

(+chilling and freezing)

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Wild FoodBritish Recipes

It’s late May and the elderflowers have been in bloom for a while. However, the first gooseberries are getting large enough to be picked so this is the first and only time I can make elderflower and gooseberry combinations with foraged ingredients. I start this recipe with a sweet syrup that can be used as an elderflower and gooseberry flavouring for many dishes. It also works as a cordial. At this time of year, when there are still elderflowers in their prime you can pick them and freeze them for later. They still work wonderfully well as a flavouring.

Ingredients:

For the Flavour Syrup:
250g (9 oz) green gooseberries
250g (1 ¼ cups) caster sugar
4 tbs water
4 elderflower blossoms

For the Sorbet:
For every 600ml (2 ½ cups) of Syrup, mix in an additional 200ml (4/5 cup) of water (that is, add one third quantity of water to syrup)
Juice of half a lemon

Method:

Put the gooseberries in a saucepan – there is no need to “top and tail” them for this recipe. Add the sugar and water and cook over a low heat until the gooseberries are soft.

Take the pan off the heat and add the elderflower blooms. Allow the syrup to cool, the flavour of the elderflower blooms will diffuse into the syrup.

When cool, strain the syrup through a fine-meshed sieve into a jug or bowl.

To make the Muscat Syrup into Gooseberry and Elderflower Sorbet: Dilute the syrup with water – one third water to two thirds syrup then add the juice of half a lemon for every 600ml of syrup.

Transfer the resultant sorbet mixture to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled (at least 4 hours).

When you are ready to make the sorbet, transfer the chilled syrup to your ice-cream maker and use according to your machine’s instructions. If you do not have an ice-cream maker, you can place the mixture in a freezer-proof container, put in the freezer for several hours until half-frozen. Whisk the mixture and then return to the container and replace in the freezer until totally frozen.