HHDD#13 - Raspberry and Banana Sorbet

I think that my genetic code is rebelling against its puritan ancestry. When it comes to food I have strong leaning towards decadence. A couple of hundred years of gruel is enough for my DNA.

Would you like huge swirl of whipped cream on top of that ridiculously rich glass of iced chocolate? Oh yes please.

Would you like a large glug of hot chocolate fudge sauce all over that sinful piece of chocolate cake and that ultra creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream? Naturally.

The only thing that stops my waistline expanding to the size of a hula hoop is a healthy metabolism and an inbuilt preference for small portions. I am by nature a small eater. So ironically enough, I have to thank my genetic code for saving me from myself.

It should therefore come as no surprise to you that I have never really gone in much for sorbets. I mean, why eat juiced up fruit when you can have lusciously creamy ice cream instead. It just goes against the grain.

But two things have happened to make me change tack, at least a little bit. First, this month's theme for Hay Hay It's Donna Day, hosted by Laura at Eat Drink Live, is sorbet. Second, I stumbled across this recipe in the UK Daily Telegraph. Web surfing will get you to some odd places.

Raspberry and banana is my kind of sorbet. I love raspberries, a decadent berry if ever there was one. And the article promises that the banana would add a rich creaminess. It set my taste buds a-tingling.

The first thing I learned about sorbets is that they are really easy to make. This recipe was no trouble at all. I simply made a sugar syrup and blended it with the raspberries, a banana and some lime juice. I had no lemons. I then whipped an egg white and carefully mixed it in. It was all over in a flash.

As for the taste, well it is delicious. The banana flavour ended up being quite strong. The recipe called for a very ripe banana. The one I used had been frozen. Any overripe bananas that I can't use straight away go in the freezer for a later date. I think that this actually intensifies the flavour. I have no scientific proof of this. I just think it.


One of the best things about this sorbet is the colour - a rich vibrant red (more so than the photos show). You cannot get colour like that with ice cream. The weather here in Canberra has been bleak and miserable. (Hence the rather poor photographs in this and recent posts.) It has been a joy just to pull this burst of radiance out of the freezer and sit down with it in front of me.

I will never look down my nose at sorbets again.