Vegan Beetroot and Vanilla Sorbet Recipe

Looks good doesn't it?

I love sorbet, don't you? It's a great vegan option and usually lower in calories than ice cream while still giving you that velvety iced treat. I quite like to serve a scoop of fruity sorbet with a dark chocolate ice cream although I'm also happy to eat the sorbet solo and often order it in restaurants. It's a refreshing end to a meal.

How do you make sorbet?

Sorbet is a combination of cooked fruit or vegetables mixed with some liquid and a little sugar. With fruit you can get away with not cooking it, but something hard like beetroot is better cooked first.

You can make sorbet in an ice cream maker or by hand.

Sorbet made in an ice cream machine

If you have an ice cream machine, the fruity mix is added to the frozen bowl and churned until it has thickened. You can eat it soft set straight from the bowl or pop it into a tub to set in the freezer, then take it out when you are ready to serve it.

Sorbet made by hand

Once your fruity mixture is ready, pop it in a tub in the freezer. Now comes the hard work. You have to take it out every half hour for 3-4 hours to whisk it up with a fork to break up the ice crystals. A bit more labour intensive, but well worth the effort.

Scoop tips

Like ice cream, once sorbet has sat in the freezer for a while it is sets rather hard. Take it out of the freezer and pop it in the fridge at least 15 minutes before you need it then fill a bowl or jug with boiling water and dip your ice cream scoop in it before scooping. It will cut through the sorbet like butter.

Veggie Desserts + Cakes 

by Kate Hackworthy

This recipe comes from the most gorgeous cookbook called veggie desserts + cakes by my good blogging buddy Kate Hackworthy.

Kate has been blogging her veg inspired recipes over at Veggie Desserts for the over 4 years now. I instantly loved her recipes when I stumbled over her blog a few years ago and soon got to know her online and realised she was such a nice person too. We've only met in person once at a food blogging conference, but I hope we we'll meet again before too long.

I instantly thought her recipes should be in a cookbook and knew it was only a waiting game until she was discovered and here we are.

Veggie Desserts + Cakes is full of vegetable packed cakes, desserts and other sweet treats and we're not just talking about carrot cake. There's waffles, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, pies, tray bakes, iced treats and pastries using every vegetable imaginable. In some of the recipes she replaces butter with avocado and eggs with vegetable puree. It's all very inspired and droolworthy. Just the inspiration you need if you are looking to increase your daily vegetable intake or you want to offer your kids healthier sweet treats.

Recipes I would like to try

Pumpkin Pie with Chai Ice Cream
Avocado Lime Tarts
Carrot Gingerbread
Black Bean Chocolate Brownies
Carrot Mango and Oat Cookies

Book Details

Book:  veggie desserts + cakes
Author: Kate Hackworthy
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1911216742
Publisher: Pavillion
Publication Date: 3 August 2017
Pages: 144 pages
Price: £9.37 (Amazon UK)

Veggie recipe count: 61 out of 61 recipes
Vegan recipe count: 16 out of 61 recipes

Yield: Serves 4-6Author: Jacqueline Meldrum (with kind permission)

Vegan Beetroot and Vanilla Sorbet

The sweet, earthy beetroot flavour isn’t masked in this sorbet, rather it shines alongside the vanilla. It makes a refreshing and eye-catching dessert – with its vivid purple colour – a dinner party palate-cleanser, or lovely in a cone on a hot summer’s day. This sorbet is particularly easy to make in an ice-cream maker, but you can use a dish in the freezer if you don’t have one.

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 30 MINStotal time: 40 mins (with ice cream machine)

INGREDIENTS

• 300g/10½oz cooked beetroot (roasted, steamed or boiled)
• 150g/5¼oz/¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 100g/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup water
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If using an ice-cream maker, freeze the bowl ahead of time, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Purée the beetroot with a hand blender until smooth, then set aside. In a small saucepan over a medium-low heat, combine the sugar and water, stirring occasionally until completely dissolved. This could take about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
3. In a food processor, blend the cooled sugar syrup with the puréed beetroot, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth.
4. If using an ice-cream maker, pour the cooled mixture into the pre-frozen bowl of the ice-cream maker and churn until thick, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then either serve immediately or pour into a freezer-safe dish to store in the freezer.
5. If not using an ice-cream maker, pour the cooled mixture into a large freezer-safe dish and freeze, mixing it well with a fork every half an hour over the next 4 hours. Transfer to the fridge for 15 minutes to soften before serving.

notes

The recipe works well with roasted, steamed or boiled beetroots, or even store-bought beetroots vacuum-packed in water.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Disclosure: The publisher sent me out this cookbook and gave me permission to share this recipe. I was not expected to share a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.