Nectarines in season

Nectarine Sorbet in Sable Cup

White nectarines are in season and as my summer sorbet making was already in full swing I decided to make...nectarine sorbet. Some may wonder why spoil a blissfully delicious fruit by adding sugar to it. I have to agree there are few things better than biting into a full-flavoured nectarine and slurping up the juices but when you buy a few you rarely get every single one to be that delicious. These were very fragrant at the supermarket the other day but quite firm so I left them to soften up a bit on the window sill.

Normally when I make a fruit sorbet I add a sugar syrup to it but I was intrigued by a David Lebovitz post where he mentioned the Italians just adding sugar to the whole fruit (I think it was peaches he was talking about) so decided to do the same. Surprisingly, I didn't see any recipes online with this method.

I stoned the fruit and then put them in the blender with some icing sugar, tasted for sweetness and added some more sugar just to be sure it was sweet enough once frozen and to help with the freezing process i.e. preventing enormous ice crystals from forming. I also added the obligatory teaspoon of lemon juice to accentuate the flavours or to help preserve the fruit.

Verdict: Beautiful, simple, fragrant and perfect served with a sable biscuit or in a sable pastry cup.

Nectarine Sorbet Recipe (makes about 1 litre)

Ingredients:

900g white flesh nectarines (about 7)

110g icing sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Pit the nectarines.

Blend with the icing sugar. 

Adjust sweetness depending on the ripeness of your fruit. (Should be a little sweeter than you would like at room temperature.)

Strain through a sieve to remove skins. 

Add some of the skins back in for texture if you like.

Refrigerate puree till chilled.

Pour into your ice cream machine and churn.

Serve right away or freeze in an airtight container.

If fully frozen then soften by placing in fridge for 30-45 minutes (depending on your fridge and freezer temperatures) so it's easy to scoop and flavours are more fragrant on the tongue.