SUMMER SERIES: RASPBERRY + ROSE SORBET

During the Summer, I am usually looking for all sorts of ideas and ways to cool down (and any excuse to eat treats!). One of my favorite things to do is make ice creams and sorbets! They usually cost a lot less than any store bought ones out there AND they taste SO much better.

Another way I usually save on my ingredients- my Mr. and I go to various Farmers' Market's around us and get fresh ingredients, which makes them taste all that much better (and make them better for you?- thats what I tell myself at least).

I really like to experiment with different flavor combinations- so one of the things I am going to be working on for a fun "Summer Series" is different summer treats you can eat to keep cool. This shall be the first one in series, but (fingers crossed) not the last.


INGREDIENTS:
- 12 roses (or 2.5 cups of rose petals- use either darker pink or red roses)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 packages (or more to taste) raspberries
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime

note: you will need either an ice cream maker for this project- or you can watch this or this tutorial to make it without one*

INSTRUCTIONS:
1: Pull all of the petals off of the roses and place in a bowl.

2: Mix the water, sugar and juice of one lemon (more or less to taste) in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

3: When all of the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and add rose petals. Cover pan and let steep for approx. 20 minutes.

4: After rose petals are done steeping, strain the petals through a fine grated strainer and discard rose petals. Refrigerate rose syrup until cool.

5: Once syrup has cooled down (15-20 minutes), blend in blender with the raspberries until finely pureed.

6: Once pureed, strain out the seeds and refrigerate the mix until cold.

7: Once cold, get out your ice cream maker, because it's about to get real!!! Moving on, pour mix in to mixer, and process according to manufacturer’s directions. With my machine it took about 20 minutes to get to the consistency I wanted- frozen but not firm.

8: When sorbet is done mixing, scoop in to bowls, grab a spoon and enjoy!

I squeezed some lime juice on the top of mine- it made it taste extra nummy!


The flowers I used for this- left over gift from my Mr.

Do you make any summer treats? We would love to hear how you keep cool in the hotter weather!

ENJOY!

*I can not guarantee either of these processes working better than with am ice cream maker- but worth a try- heck, it could even be fun!