JR Ryall – the longstanding pastry chef at Ballymaloe House, the iconic luxury country house hotel in County Cork, Ireland – shares this easy blackberry-geranium sorbet recipe in his book Ballymaloe Desserts: Iconic Recipes and Stories from Ireland. The richly-coloured sorbet was designed to make use of late summer berry harvests – and it pairs perfectly with Ryall’s Langues de Chat Butter Cookies. For ELLE Gourmet editorial director Erin McLaughlin, the recipe brings back fond memories:
“I recently came across a shabby booklet tucked away in the pages of a cookbook. Inside, written in her neat cursive, was my late mother’s travel diary from a trip to Ireland in 1975. It was the entry when she lunched at Ballymaloe, that captured my imagination. She wrote of the food she ate: a salad with watercress, an omelette, a coarse liver pate, an apple tart for dessert. The list went on. So, when this delightful recipe from Ballymaloe’s pastry chef JR Ryall came across my desk, I had to share it. Enjoy! – ELLE Gourmet Editorial Director Erin McLaughlin
Blackberry Sorbet
Ingredients
- 10 sweet geranium leaves
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar approx
- 1¼ cups cold water
- 450 g fresh or frozen blackberries 3-3 ½ cups (approx), see note
- ½ lemon juiced (approx)
- 1 tbsp kirsch optional
Instructions
- In saucepan, bring geranium leaves, sugar and cold water to a boil on medium heat. Simmer for 2 minutes; remove from the heat and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through fine mesh sieve into blender and discard leaves. Add blackberries and purée; strain through fine-mesh sieve into bowl to remove seeds.
- Stir in lemon juice then taste and adjust with more lemon juice or sugar and kirsch if desired. Add to ice-cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s directions. Sorbet is best enjoyed the same day. Freeze in an airtight container.
Notes
Langues de Chat
JR Ryall's take on a classic cookie recipe from the new Ballymaloe Desserts cookbook.
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