Whip It Up Wednesday: Blueberry & Raspberry Sorbet (Egg Free)

Last week the first really hot weather for the season hit, and it's not even summer yet!

On Thursday it was 34 ºC and on Friday it went all the way up to 37 ºC! *phew*

(That's about 93 ºF and 98.5 ºF)

Luckily, I had this nifty little number all made up and waiting patiently in the freezer ready to cool us down!

Blueberry & Raspberry Sorbet!

Recipe adapted from Cuisinart Recipe Booklet

What You Need (makes 5 cups worth):

* 4 cups of frozen berries (thawed)

(I used 1 cup of blueberries and 3 cups of raspberries)

* 2 cups of water

* 2 cups of sugar

* A pinch of salt

What To Do:

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium to low heat. 

Cook until sugar is fully dissolved.

Add salt and berries. Blend until smooth.

At this point you can strain the mixture through a mesh strainer
to remove the seeds if you want to. We opted not to.

If you have an ice-cream maker: Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or overnight like I did). Turn on your ice-cream maker, pour in the mixture and let it mix for around 20 minutes. 

If you don't have an ice-cream maker**: Freeze for 4-5 hours (until almost set). Break sorbet up with a metal spoon, then transfer to a food processor. Process until a smooth, icy consistency is achieved. Freeze for another 4 hours then process again, repeat this at least twice, or until the desired texture is achieved. 

(More repeats = smoother sorbet)

Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and store in the freezer between servings.

** I use an ice-cream maker, so this method is just a suggestion based on this recipe for Watermelon sorbet. Use at your own risk ;D Most non-ice-cream-maker-machine recipes suggest the addition of egg-whites for a smoother texture. Also, this website also has some great information on making sorbets and ice-creams at home.

Enjoy! <3

Whip It Up Wednesday: Berry Lemon Cupcakes

I'll tell you this right now, these babies went down a TREAT! I took them with me to family tea and they were goners! Now that's what I like to see ;) These are definitely on the engagement party food list - which is this weekend by the way :D

I found the recipe here at Vixen Made and altered slightly - I used raw sugar, raspberry swirl yoghurt and I used canned mixed berries instead of raspberry puree. If you use canned berries, just pick out the best looking ones and mush them with a fork - you still want the same amount of "mushed berries" as you would pureed raspberry. I also modified the method slightly to use fewer bowls because I'm lazy - less washing up!

Berry Lemon Cupcakes

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup raw sugar

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp grated lemon zest

31/4 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup raspberry swirl vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup mushed berries

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).

In a large bowl, whisk sugar, butter, and egg. Add yogurt, berries, lemon zest and juice and beat until smooth.

Add salt and baking power and stir well. Add flour a bit at a time and beat until smooth.

I made mini cupcakes and this filled a 24 cupcake tin AND a 12 cupcake tin. 

If you make big cupcakes it probably makes 12 normal sized cupcakes.

Line your tin(s) with cupcake liners and divide the mixture evenly between the liners. 

Bake for 20 minutes (about 5 minutes longer for normal sized cupcakes).

Let cool and enjoy :D

I topped mine with cream cheese icing (my favourite! Found at the bottom of this recipe) that had 1 drop of red food colouring. Then I added cachous because they're pretty :D