Lemon Sorbet and Raspberry-Sugar Apple Tower ~ 檸檬雪酪香蘋塔

Summer is coming to an end, officially. You’re probably thinking that summer been over so why am I saying this now. You see, I live in the Bay Area and we barely can tell summer from spring but we have an Indian summer, which is around mid September to mid October. During this time, the weather is dry and boiling. This is also my least favorite time of the year! Since childhood, I am never fond of hot weather because it discourages me from doing things because I felt like I am being burn under the scorching sun and that the unforgiving sunlight darken my freckles ^u^ Although I don’t like summer but the season produces many of my favorite fruits! To name a few: cherries, mangos, raspberries, lychee, and etc. Oh, it is a love and hate affaire!


It is around 80 degree outside and I wanted some ice cream to cool down. Sad thing is that my brother finished the last of the coconut ice cream and didn’t restock. Since I hate to show my face in the sun, I decided that I will make my own! As I was flipping through my Donna Hay magazine (Issue #29) for recipe, my eyes caught on this gorgeous picture of this sorbet tower. Sorbet and raspberry-sugar apple is what it is called. It requires little to nothing to assemble but I lack the store-bought sorbet that it calls for -_- Fine, I'll make my own then! I check my shelves of cookbooks and I found what I was looking for: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein. Since I have a fruitful lemon tree in my garden (OMG, it produces the juiciest lemons and I always think that it is a hybrid. Maybe it is a Meyer lemon variety?!), I decided to make lemon sorbet. I have an ice cream machine that I bought a year or maybe 2 years ago and I have no idea where I stored it (I feel sorry that I have forgotten its existence…). When I finally locate it, I can’t put it to use yet because the instructions said to freeze it first before using. Next, I have to look for some apple. Coincidently, my co-worker left a home-grown granny smith apple on my desk yesterday. However, that was not enough. I realized Donna calls for 2 different apple varieties for contrast. I had to “borrow” an apple from my neighbor’s apple tree that stretches over to my garden ^o^


Making homemade sorbet is easier than I remembered (I re-employed my ice cream machine for the remaining summer after this sorbet making day.). How does it taste? The lemon sorbet tastes tart yet very refreshing! By the way, the freshly squeezed lemon juice gives it a favor that’s reminiscent of homemade lemonade! You can adjust the balance of sweetness and tanginess by adding tiny pinches of salt with sugar until the lemon favor is as clear and bright as possible. This can also apply to all fruit-base sorbets and sherbets.

Makes 3 cups

Lemon Sorbet
¾ cup fresh lemon juice, about 4 medium lemons
1 ½ cups caster sugar
2 cups water
1 large egg white

Raspberry – Sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup frozen raspberry

1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced and coated with lemon juice
1 pink lady apple or other variety, thinly sliced with lemon juice

Note: Homemade sorbet is best eaten within a day or so, as it gets icier and may become grainy. Also, to get the maximum smoothness, stir the mixture couple times (20 mins. interval) during freezing!

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until sugar completely dissolved then raise the heat and bring syrup to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

Using an electric beater, whisk the egg white till foamy. Slowly beat in the hot sugar syrup and continue beating until mixture cools down slightly. Add the lemon juice and fold till it gets incorporated. Place in freezer to freeze for 4 hours or overnight. Stir the mixture a couple times while freezing for maximum smoothness.

Take the chilled mixture out and stir till it gets a bit smooth, then freeze in batch in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The freshly made sorbet is a bit soft so I like to freeze it for another hour for a firmer texture. However, if you like it soft, you can eat it right away ^O^

You can scoop the sorbet into pretty cups or for a more charming presentation, read below.

Make raspberry-sugar first. Place sugar and raspberry in a food processor and process until just combined. 15 seconds. It should be coarse and grainy.

Place a slice of each apple on a plate, top with one scoop of lemon sorbet, another slice of each apple, and finish with another scoop of sorbet. Lastly, sprinkle with raspberry-sugar and serve immediately.


檸檬雪酪香蘋塔

夏天快要結束了! Yeaaaaaaaaah……! 或許你正在想 “夏天不是已經結束了嗎”? 居住在舊金山灣區的我，僅能說是沒辦法體會四季的變換的。天氣是不錯啦。可惜在九月中旬到十月中旬左右，天氣會變的很乾燥和燜熱。這是屬于灣區的 Indian summer。也是一年裡我最討厭的月份了﹗ 從我有記憶以來，我好像就從未喜歡過夏天。因為我常被太陽燒傷。還有就是我臉上的雀斑在夏天會變得特別顯眼 @_@ 雖說討厭夏天，但是夏天卻出產一些我最愛的水果︰ 櫻桃，芒果，覆盆子，荔枝，等等。

今天好熱，大概80度左右，所以想吃一些冰品冷卻一下。打開冰箱才發現弟把我的冰淇淋給吃了。因為實在不想外出，只好自己動手了﹗翻書去﹗這道檸檬雪酪香蘋塔是翻 Donna Hay 的雜誌時看到的。魂都給它的華麗的presentation給鉤去了 ^0^。但是看食譜後決定做個來吃，因為做法很簡單…哈哈…開心的哩。

不做不知，原來雪酪sorbet是法國的一種甜點(一直以為是Italy)，在正式的餐廳中，被當作是讓味蕾甦醒與休息的轉折站，專指只加糖與果汁，不含乳製品的冰品。由於質地比冰砂更細緻，帶著豐富果香，含豐富的維他命的同時熱量也比冰淇淋低，因此最近幾年是十分受寵的健康冰品。



這食譜是用現成的雪酪做成的，但我改用自己做的sorbet。因為後院有棵多產又juicy的檸檬樹，所以決定做檸檬雪酪。而食譜是來自於Bruce Weinstein的The Ultimate Ice Cream Book。做法容易到不行。因為是臨時決定要做的，所以沒有pre-chilled冰淇淋機，害我多等幾個小時才可以吃到這個雪酪 -__- 再來是蘋果。很巧合的是，昨天我的同事給了我一個她家種植的蘋果 (Organic 耶﹗好棒﹗)。可是還不夠。這食譜需要兩種不同的蘋果種類，為的是視覺上的好看及衝擊﹗這時候，我想到鄰居的蘋果樹。沒辦法，是它自己越過圍牆伸展到我家花園的。我只好吃它了^ o ^

做完檸檬雪酪後的感想是我太對不起我的冰淇淋maker。真的沒記憶中的難耶﹗害我一直不敢好好的重用它(我已重新雇用它了^u^)。味道又怎樣呢？豐富的檸檬果香氣及清爽、綿密的口感會整個席捲你的嗅覺與味覺，讓你一口又一口，欲罷不能。而且入口即化、像在嘗雪綿冰一樣的滋味。好吃﹗難道這就是幸福的味道(笑)?!


3杯份量

檸檬雪酪
¾ cup 新鮮的檸檬汁
1½ cups 細砂糖
2 cups 水
1個 大的蛋白

覆盆子 晶糖
½ cup 砂糖
½ cup 冷藏覆盆子

1個 granny smith 蘋果，切成片並且涂上檸檬汁
1個 pink lady 蘋果或者其他蘋果種類，切成片並且涂上檸檬汁

要注意什麼呢?: homemade的雪酪最好在1、2天內吃完，因為結冰變粒狀的可能性很大。 此外，為了讓雪酪得到軟滑順口的口感，在冷凍的過程中，每20分鐘就要重覆攪拌雪酪(為了防阻在這期間結成粗糙的冰晶)!



製作檸檬雪酪。把水、砂糖混合裝進小鍋裡，用弱火將砂糖煮到完全融化後，改中火煮沸，熄火，備用。

將蛋白打發至出現泡沫的起泡程度後，小量的加入稍放涼的糖漿，再打發至稍涼後加入檸檬汁，攪拌均勻，放進冰箱冷凍4小時或一個晚上。在冷凍的過程中，每20分鐘就要重覆攪拌雪酪，讓雪酪得到軟滑順口的口感﹗

從冰箱取出雪酪，稍攪拌直到它變得有點順滑後，倒進冰淇淋機裡，然後根據製造商的指示製作雪酪。新鮮做的雪酪有點柔軟，我喜歡吃質地硬一點的，所以我將它放進冰箱多冷凍1小時。 不過，如果你喜歡柔軟的口感，你可以立刻享用它 ^ O ^

如果要做檸檬雪酪香蘋塔，首先做覆盆子晶糖。 把糖和覆盆子倒進食物調理機中(food processor) ，稍攪打成粗糙的晶粒，備用。

將蘋果各一片放于一個盤子上，舀一球檸檬雪酪在頂，再將蘋果各一片放于雪酪頂上，再舀一球檸檬雪酪在頂後，撒上覆盆子晶糖就大功告成了!