International Incident Lavender Party - Lavender Sorbet

My first International Incident Party! Yayy!! iip for short, is hosted by Penny from Jeroxie.com. This monthly event attracts global participation!!

The theme for the month of October was to be Lavender!... Thank Goodness I'd bought some dried culinary (edible) lavender flowers from Prahran Market a few weeks ago, in my attempt at making macarons (failed, we shall no longer speak about it...

Lavender Sorbet with Strawberry Drops

What I decided to make instead, for this months iip party, is Lavender Sorbet (there aren't many Lavender recipe's sitting out there that doesn't invoke thoughts about hand creams and soap... hence why I decided against my initial plan for a Lavender Panna Cotta...

For this sorbet recipe, I used an ice-cream maker machine (I guess you could do it the hard way of freezing the liquid and waiting for it to chill and then take it back out and break it with a fork/ice-pick/food processor/blender and then freeze it again)...

The crucial ingredients

Ingredients:

Half a cup of granulated sugar (I used 1 cup of caster sugar and it was way too sweet)

2 cups of water

1 tablespoon of dried lavender (edible) - never use lavender flowers from the florist or garden due to chemicals

2 tablespoons of vodka (I used Absolut Vanilla)

2 and a half tablespoons of freshly squeezed (and sieved) lemon juice

This recipe makes 8-10 servings

Dissolving sugar

In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, combine sugar and water and heat up until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Once the consistency of the liquid is clear, add in the lavender flowers and turn to medium heat.

When it is boiling as such, change to low heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes

Let the flower infuse into the syrup. Once it starts boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Pour the lavender liquid into a clean bowl (sieving out the flowers), add in the lemon juice and vodka. Make sure to stir and combine it thoroughly.

TRIVIA: Can you guess why Vodka is being used?

Lavender syrup, lemon juice, red and blue colouring

Because the the lavender syrup is a completely colourless liquid, I decided to use some colouring. I mixed red and blue colouring to achieve a nice vibrant purple (not too bright)... I used less than half a teaspoon of each to do this (I didn't measure, but I would estimate 3 drops of red and 3 drops of blue).

Once the lavender syrup has cooled down, cover the bowl with some cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours (more if you like)...

Lavender Sorbet in the making

Following the instructions on my ice-cream maker (and your's too), the sorbet was ready for some rock and rolling!

After 45 minutes, my sorbet was done!

Plated by the Boy

Serve with fresh fruit (I have strawberry drops here) and fresh lavender flowers from the garden...

Extremely fun and easy, a definite hit with kids and parties!!! I do hope you enjoy it!

Do visit the other blogs listed below on their fun International Incident Lavender Party recipes