Americano Sorbet
Americano Sorbet - a frosty scoop of soft creamy summer fruit spiked with an aromatic Italian aperitif and delicately infused with citrus and fresh herbs.
Homemade sorbet can tricky. Depending on your choice of fruit, achieving the perfect creamy texture can be a bit of a challenge. Citrus fruit such as lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit will often produce icy sorbet with big crystals. It's the peaches in this recipe that ensures a smooth creamy result.
If you're interested in experimenting with homemade sorbet, be sure and check out this article for everything you'll need to know about The Science of Best Sorbet. How much sugar to use, when not to use sugar, the affects of alcohol on texture; all your questions will be answered.
The thing to remember about sorbet is that recipes and ratios are infinitely adjustable. If you don't like the results, just thaw and tinker a bit, then re-churn.
Americano Sorbet
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- the zest of one large orange
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (about a tablespoon of thyme leaves)
- 2-3 sage leaves
- 4 large ripe peaches - peeled, pitted, and sliced
- 1/2 cup Cocchi Americano
Start by making your simple syrup. Combine the sugar, water, orange juice, orange zest, and fresh herbs in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and remove the pot from the heat. Cover and let the mixture steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain the solids through a fine mesh strainer and chill the syrup before proceeding.
Combine the peaches, Americano, and simple syrup in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the metal blade (or blender) and puree until smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of your chilled ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.
The sorbet is ready to serve immediately or store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a week.
To serve, scoop into chilled glasses and top with a wee splash of Americano. Thyme and sage are currently in bloom in my little urban garden so I'm adding a few blossoms as a garnish, totally optional.
Layers of flavour reveal themselves as this sorbet melts in your mouth. Sweet ripe peach contrasts nicely with a bitter note from Cocchi Americano, while the bright citrus flavours mingle with the infusion of fresh thyme and sage. If you like Americano, you'll love this sorbet, it really brings out the best in this fortified wine.
Cocchi Americano in an exciting aperitif from northern Italy, thank goodness it's widely available in North America too. If you can't find it in your market, simply substitute Moscato d'Asti for the Americano and omit the fresh herbs from your simple syrup. The results will be a little sweeter, but still delightful.
