Peach and Lavender Sorbet

 

Seemingly non-stop July. Long, endless, lazy days and it seems like everything has slowed down. The wheels appear to turn a lot slower than they do during the rest of the year. School’s out and there’s a more relaxed attitude to the daily routine. My mind, wandering to far away golden beaches and azure blue seas, gets excited at thoughts of a vacation just around the corner.

In stark contrast the local farmers market is alive and bustling with energetic activity in July. Fruit and vegetables in all their bright kaleidoscopic colors, tempt shoppers to overload their baskets. Heavy with tender scenting peas, courgettes, cherries, fennel, artichokes, strawberries, July is bursting with rich, sweet ripeness when it comes to fresh produce. Weaving past the stalls selling bread, cheese, sweets, nuts and so much more, the various aromas intermingling are heady and enticing. 

Each vendor cajoles with promises of “the sweetest raspberries” or “the finest aubergines”, armed with pocket knives they cut into the produce and offer a sampling, they know it will be hard to disagree with them.

Today I make my way briskly to the stall in the middle of the square, where I saw sweet, fragrant, yellow-fleshed peaches last week. They were sweeter and juicier with a subtle yet sublime taste, a little of apricots and a little of nectarines. We only bought about a pound last week and before we reached the car we had eaten most of them, our fingers sticky from the juice. This week I planned to buy more. There are many ideas, coating themselves in my head like a sugary layer and as I envisage each creation I encounter yet another new idea. It is dizzying. 

 

To be on the safe side I buy two brown bags filled to bursting and another brimming full of aromatic apricots (but those are for another post). I stash the bags carefully in my basket and hurriedly make my way back to the car. It is a hot day and perfect for a refreshing and icy dessert. 

Sitting out on the terrace, I watch the bees buzz around my potted lavender, busily collecting the sweet nectar. I smile, savoring a spoonful of my sorbet, thinking how grand the lazy non-stop July days are.

 

Recipe: Peach and Lavender Sorbet

Printable version of recipe here

Prep Time: 1 hourTotal Time: 1 hours 30 minutes (+ freezing time)

Ingredients:

• 150 g sugar
• 3 teaspoons edible dried lavender
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 700 g ripe peaches

Method:

1. In a saucepan bring sugar, lavender, lemon juice with 150g water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for approx 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
   


2. With a paring knife slit a cross into the round side of each peach. Blanch the peaches in boiling water, then place in ice water to cool. The skin should be easy to peel off, slice into wedges. Place the peach slices in the lavender syrup and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.
   


3. With a hand held immersion blender, finely puree the fruit and syrup. If you prefer, you can strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lavender before pureeing the fruit.
   


4. Pour the fruit puree into an ice cream machine and process the sorbet according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer into containers and freeze for a further 2 hours.
   

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Verdict

 

Stone fruit are my big weakness and I can literally eat cherries, apricots or peaches by the bucket. Often just pure or with a subtle vanilla flavored quark or custard. However, we absolutely love to indulge in aromatic and flavorful dishes. This sorbet uses fresh, ripe peaches and a subtle hint of lavender giving a big taste of summer.

Monthly Mingle

The plethora of stone fruit available currently makes for fantastic creations, savory salsa, sauces or salads or sweet pies, cakes or ice creams. Let the imagination run wild.

That is what we want you to do this month. It’s all about stone fruit this month as my hostess Sukania from Sips and Spoonfuls hosts the latest Monthly Mingle. We chose Stone Fruit to allow you to take full advantage of July’s bounty. If you are living in the Southern Hemisphere stone fruit preserves or frozen fruit will work perfectly too.

The deadline is July 31st, so you have plenty of time to prepare your dish. We look forward to seeing you at the roundup.

Wishing you all a fantastic rest of the week and a great weekend. Enjoy your lazy seemingly non-stop July!

You might like these stone fruit ideas from WFLH:

Peach and Cardamom Goat Cheese Tart	Chocolate Raspberry and Peach Brownies	Apricot Saffron Cake

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