Rich swirls of Black Current Sorbet fresh from the ice cream maker

Record Setting Heat

A few weeks ago was record setting high temperatures in France. While we are among the rare few to have some air conditioning in our home – the previous owners installed it downstairs, a decision I’ll never understand. Most unhelpful when all the bedrooms are upstairs.

On top of that my parents were here for a visit and I was so stressed about keeping everyone cool. I admit that I didn’t get the Canadian blood that can handle the cold weather very well, but I’m equally not great with too much hot weather either. I’m a temperate type.

But one thing I can do, is make sorbet! So that’s exactly what I did! We finished off the rhubarb elderflower sorbet and enjoyed refreshing grapefruit granité, they even got to taste my latest recipe for this red currant sorbet a couple times over as I tried different methods. Mixing bowls, spoons and spatulas were always eagerly scooped up to lick clean. Based on this fact alone, I think it’s safe to say I created a winning recipe!

A Creature Case

How it took me so long to pick the red currants, or cassis as we call it here, is really just a story of ticks… It took me years to work up the courage to walk through the field with it’s long grass and wild flowers that were between me and the black currant bushes in the middle. Suffice it to say, I survived and the one tick that I flicked off my shoe did not. Luckily my efforts paid off with lots of berries and several batches for testing.

I mentioned in my last post for rhubarb elderflower sorbet that sometimes you find yourself reaching for similar ingredients and this is the recipe I was referring to. I’m sitting on a massive quantity of elderflower cordial and naturally I’m not going to let it go to waste. Meanwhile every recipe I found for cassis sorbet was just plain. Sure it’s great as is but I want a little something extra, don’t you? If you haven’t made elderflower cordial before – you can find a simple recipe here.

Nailing Down the Texture

So far, everyone agrees, the elderflower pairs perfectly. I even tested a couple methods to help with scoopability. There are lots of options out there from eggs to glucose and various stabilisers in between. I am giving two options in my recipe. Gin, I find is a great little addition that we always have on hand, it’s not perfect, but it’ll help. OR, years ago my neighbour told me about locust bean gum (farine de caroube) and I’d always wanted to try it. It must be boiled into the sugar and water but I think it did result in a really great texture in the finished black currant sorbet.

And as I’ve got one more recipe in the books, I can’t help but think of all the other flavour combos I’d love to try out. I’ve been writing down ideas, hoping I’ll figure out how to execute them. My freezer space is limited but I think it’s safe to say there will be many fun flavours to come.

Metal container heaped with deep red black currant and elderflower sorbet

Freshly picked black currant cassis berries

Black Currant Elderflower Sorbet

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

1 cup Sugar 225 g
1 1/4 cups Water 300 ml
1 tsp Locust Bean Gum, slightly heaping 3 g *see alternative below
3 Tbsp Lemon juice 45 ml
5 cups Cassis 750g
1/4 cup Elderflower Cordial 60 ml

Method

In a small pot place the water and sugar on medium heat and bring it to a low boil before adding the locust bean gum which needs the heat to properly get incorporated. Be careful as you whisk it together not to burn yourself. Set aside to cool while you carry onto the next step *if you're using gin you will add it later so don't add it just yet.
Rinse and drain the cassis before placing them into a blender to purée the berries as best as possible. Blending a little longer will help to get more of the beautiful colour too.
Empty the purée into a fine mesh sieve to remove all the seeds by pushing through it with a spatula, don't forget to scrape the bottom of the sieve to get every last bit. This is a tough job but press on! You can do it! Get as much of the juice and pulp as possible.
Combine the black current to the sugar syrup and add the lemon juice and elderflow cordial stirring until it's all nicely incorporated. *Add the gin now if you're not using the locust bean gum*
Place the mixture into the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or I like to leave it overnight.
Church in your ice cream maker
You can enjoy it straight away or put it in the freezer a few hours to firm up

Notes

*If you don’t have locust bean gum you can replace it with 4 1/2 tsp Gin (22 ml) instead if you don’t have either just expect a slightly harder sorbet you’ll need to pull out of the freezer a few minutes before scooping.

Black Currant and Elderflower Sorbet