Having survived the festive season and the luxurious bliss of being on holiday, most of us are headed back to work. But since summer’s still in full swing, celebrate the balmy evenings with this boozy little recipe to help rekindle those lazy bygone days beside the sea.
Ingredients:
- 2 large, ripe pink or white desert peaches
- 1 cup of sugar (I prefer using brown sugar for a hint of burnt caramel but you can use castor or white sugar too)
- 2 tots of premium vodka (as you’re working with subtle flavours and small quantities, its best to use the best. I like to use Jorgensens’s Primitiv Vodka as its local, lekker, organic and exquisitely subtle)
- A hunk of ginger
- 2 generous sprigs of mint – I use a combination of spearmint and peppermint
- Splash of fresh lemon/lime juice
- 750ml cold filtered water
- ½ cup of ginger ale
Peel ginger and chop finely. Wash peaches and mint thoroughly and chop into rough chunks. Place water into a large pot; add sugar, fruit, mint and ginger. Bring to the boil and boil for 15 minutes, stir to help sugar dissolve. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once the liquid is cool you can either strain through a fine sieve to remove fruit if you want a clear sorbet or liquidize with a hand-blender for a more textured treat.
Add vodka, lemon/lime juice and ginger ale and pour into an ice cream maker. If you do not have the requisite machinery, you can do this manually. Pour mixture in a metal tray and place in freezer. You need to regularly (every 20 minutes or so) stir the sorbet to break up ice particles – you can do this with a fork or make use of your hand-blender again. Quite a lot of effort but well worth it, I promise!
When it’s set (either by way of machine or elbow grease) serve in sleek cocktails glasses with a spring of mint and enjoy!
You can really get inventive with this recipe – try different fruit (berries are a great substitute) or another of your favourite summertime spirits (tequila, gin, absinthe anyone?).
If you are adverse to alcohol and extra sugar, a natural, healthy treat to help you stay cool, calm and collected through the heat of summer is to freeze seedless grapes for an invigoratingly fresh fruit sorbet. I spend most of this season with a freezer full of red globe grapes that serve as icy snack treats. Anyone who can rig up a solar freezer for this year’s Afrika Burn and take up a load of non fermented grape is sure to be inundated with fans…
Cheers! And a happy 2013 to you all.
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