Redcurrant and elderflower sorbet

This delicately flavoured, seasonal sorbet is delicious served with roasted peaches, and a honey and oat crumb. Developed by Chef Ewan at Church Street Tavern, inspired by picking redcurrants at the farm.

Redcurrant and elderflower sorbet

You can easily make this out of season, with freshly frozen redcurrants from the farm, and substituting fresh elderflowers with a little elderflower cordial.

Church Street Tavern in Colchester is renowned for creating inventive flavours from fresh, local ingredients.

Ingredients

For the sorbet:

  • 450g redcurrants
  • 100ml water
  • 100g honey
  • 120g caster sugar (110g if using cordial instead of fresh elderflowers)
  • 150ml water 
  • 1 large head of elderflowers, or a dash of elderflower cordial.

For the honey oat crumb:

  • 50g plain flour
  • 37g unsalted butter
  • 25g porridge oats 
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 3/4 tbsp honey 

For the peaches:

  • 4 ripe peaches
  • Soft brown sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Brandy 
  • Demerara sugar 

Method

  1. Firstly make the sorbet. Remove all the stalks from the redcurrants and wash well. Put them in a saucepan with the 100ml of water and cook for around 10 minutes until soft. Blitz well with a stick blender and push through a sieve. You should have 300ml of redcurrant puree. Stir through the honey whilst it’s still warm so it melts through evenly. 
  2. Meanwhile make a sugar syrup with the 150ml of water and the 120g of caster sugar. Put them in a saucepan and add the elderflowers, picked and removed from their stems. Bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar and remove from the heat immediately. Allow to infuse until cold then pass through a sieve to remove the elderflowers. 
  3. Mix the elderflower syrup with the redcurrant purée and chill until super cold in the fridge. 
  4. Once cold, churn in an ice cream machine until starting to thicken then transfer to a plastic container and freeze. 
  5. If you don’t have an ice cream machine then simply pour the mixture into a plastic container and freeze for around 2 hours, break up with a fork to break up the ice crystals then freeze again. Repeat every 30 minutes or so thereafter until starting to solidify. 
  6. Now make the honey and oat crumb. Rub the flour and butter with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs in consistency. Add the sugar, honey and oats and rub further with your fingertips to combine. Bake at 180*C (fan assisted) for around 8 minutes. 
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and set. Now crush with your hands or bash with a rolling pin into crumbs. 
  8. Once the sorbet has set and you’re ready to go, bake the peaches. Cut them in half and remove the stones. Sprinkle a generous layer of soft brown sugar over the cut sides of the peaches. Drizzle with a very little vanilla extract.  Bake for 15 minutes at 180*. Remove from the oven and splash generously with brandy, sprinkle with Demerara sugar and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. 
  9. Plate up. Put the peaches on the plate, drizzle with any cooking juices, scoop the sorbet and sprinkle the honey and oat crumb. Garnish with some finely shredded mint. 

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