Mulled Wine Sorbet

This is a truly special sorbet, perfect for serving to anyone suffering from a surfeit of Christmas indulgence. I am indebted to Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir for the recipe from their splendid book on ice creams, Ices: the Definitive Guide.

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This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas.

Method

Begin by making a syrup. This you do by adding the sugar to 6 fl oz (175 ml) water, heating it in a saucepan to boiling point, stirring gently, then simmering for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before pouring it into a bowl and chilling in the refrigerator. Now, using a potato peeler, remove three strips of zest (coloured part only) from the orange and one of the lemons, then cut these finely across to give hair-like shreds. Squeeze the juice from all the citrus fruit.

Next heat the wine, spices, orange and lemon juices together with the zest in a saucepan (not aluminium), simmer gently for 5 minutes, then leave to cool. When cool add the port, pour this into a separate bowl and put it into the refrigerator to chill (I often do this overnight).

When both liquids are completely chilled, add 8 fl oz (225 ml) of the syrup to the wine mixture, put it in an ice-cream maker and churn for 8 minutes. Meanwhile beat the egg white until foamy but not holding stiff peaks, then add that and continue to churn for about another 8 minutes (or according to the manufacturer's instructions). Then place the sorbet in a plastic freezer box in the freezer till needed. If you don't have an ice-cream machine put the wine and syrup mixture into a rectangular plastic box and freeze, covered, for up to 2-3 hours or until it reaches the stage of becoming thicker, icy and opaque. Add the beaten egg white at this stage (as above) and continue to freeze for a further 6-7 hours, stirring it at hourly intervals.

The beauty of this sorbet is that you can serve it straight from the freezer as the alcohol gives it a nice soft consistency. Use within 1 month.