Cooking Light Magazine’s Sparkling Apricot Sorbet

When I picked up a copy of Cooking Light Magazine and saw their recipe for Sparkling Apricot Sorbet, it was before the whole roof fiasco. I had spontaneously picked up a copy of the magazine and wanted to make a special summer treat.

I went out and bought some Prosecco as my sparkling wine choice for the very first time. I had heard Giada de Laurentiis talk about it constantly on Everyday Italian for years and I finally had the opportunity to buy some and really use it. This bottle cost me $15 and even when everything was OK, not super-easy for me to purchase.

The next day our roof started to leak. The apricots I had bought to make the sorbet with just sat and withered away, ending up in the compost which broke my heart. I had lost all foodie enthusiasm for this treat.

Then last week I said, screw it! I was tired of the bottle taking up space in my kitchen. I went out and got some new apricots, let them get all nice and ripe and got to work.

I only had enough apricots to make half the recipe but will write the recipe in full for you. Combine 1 cup of sugar with 2 cups of sparkling wine. For those who can not use alcohol, you could try just making this with water or Sprite but if you do, cut back on the sugar by around half.

Add 1 1/2 lbs peeled, pitted and halved apricots. I left the skins on since it was going to be strained anyway and when you leave skins on you get additional nutritional value and colour. And… it’s a heck of a lot less work!

Add a dash of salt and 2 strips of lemon peel. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

I put everything through a very fine strainer and discarded the solids. I covered and chilled the apricot syrup.

Then I poured it into my frozen ice cream maker and let it churn for at least 20 minutes.

This is exactly what I wanted! Look at all that colour! Amazing…

I moved the sorbet into one of my old but clean yogurt containers and froze solid.

Beautiful. Elegant. Lovely. Yes, you can taste the wine a lot but you can definitely also taste the apricots. Make sure your apricots are quite ripe though because the wine is very strong.

This dessert cost me $20 to make. Not something I will be making again anytime soon so I will enjoy every little spoonful while I can. Reg and our friends agreed too, this is a delicious summer treat that is something special. Perfect for a dinner party. I give it four and a half out of five wooden spoons.

What did I do with the extra sparkling wine? I froze it in my ice cube tray and will use it in a white sangria. The key to saving money in the kitchen is never let anything go to waste.

I do hope that one day soon I will again be able to indulge a little in the kitchen.