These bowls are extremely satisfying to make because they always turn out looking pretty, no matter what you put in them or if you think you didn't do them quite right. You can use them to serve sorbet or ice cream on a hot summer day to keep your frozen treats from melting too fast. As for the strawberry rhubarb sorbet recipe I'm sharing with you today, it is naturally rich and creamy even though it is made up of only 3 ingredients: strawberries, rhubarb and sugar. It's dead easy to make and you don't even need an ice cream maker.
Valerie has a beautiful food blog called Open Kitchen, which I've been following with admiration for a long time. So when she asked if she could do a post (which you can read here) featuring my ice bowls and favourite sorbet recipe, I was thrilled and honoured. We spent a lovely afternoon together, sharing stories about food, farming, love and life. And we ate bowls of strawberry rhubarb sorbet in the late afternoon sunshine, as you can see in this video... (Now that's what I call the beginning of a wonderful friendship!)
I don't remember where I originally got the ice bowl bug (I'm certainly not the genius who came up with the idea!) but I've been making them since I was a teenager. I used to make them whenever we had summer guests and to this day, even though it was 20 years ago, my mami (who appears in this video I did on her birthday last summer) still talks about the time I made blackberry sorbet served in lavender-filled ice bowls. These bowls always make me think of mami because they are delicate, elegant and graceful, just like her!
I hope you enjoy making these as much as I do. May they help keep you cool on a hot summer day.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SORBET (Adapted from Canadian Living)
3 1/2 to 4 cups chopped rhubarb (I used 3 cups the first time but found the rhubarb taste didn't come through enough)
2 cups chopped strawberries
3/4 cup cane sugar (this is for a tart, not too sweet sorbet, if you prefer sweeter, use 1 cup)
Optional: 1 tbsp. finely ground chia seed (aside from being super healthy, these give a creamier texture to sorbets)
Cook the rhubarb with a little water (about 1/4 cup) until soft, around 10 minutes. Add the sugar and simmer for another 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Puree the rhubarb with the strawberries in a food processor and freeze in a shallow pan for about 4 hours. Break up the frozen mix into chunks and return it to the food processor. Puree until very smooth and velvety. Return to the freezer for an hour to two, or until serving time.
ICE BOWLS
Materials:
-4 medium and 4 small plastic bowls, with a 2–3 cm difference in height
and width (yoghurt containers also work fine for this)
-1 pitcher of ice-cold water
-Around 4 cups of small edible
flowers, berries and herbs (see suggestions below)
-Small heavy objects to use as weights,
such as rocks or coins
1. Pour water into the 4 medium bowls
so it covers about 2 cm at the bottom of each. Put
the bowls in the freezer until the water is frozen solid. Be sure to
keep them level so that the water doesn’t freeze lopsided.
2. Remove medium bowls from the
freezer, working on just one at a time so the water doesn’t melt.
Place a smaller bowl on top of the ice base inside the medium bowl,
making sure it’s centred. Fill the smaller bowl with a layer of
heavy objects to keep it anchored down. In the gap between the small
and medium bowls, drop a handful of flowers, herbs, and berries of
your choice. Try to make them fill the space vertically as well as
horizontally by squeezing the
larger flowers, herbs, or berries into the gap so that they are held
in place between the walls of the bowls and do not all float to the
top. Pour water to fill this space so it reaches 1 centimetre from the rim of the bowl. Tuck in any leaves or flowers that
are sticking out of the water. Freeze.
3. Remove the ice bowls from the
freezer. Run a little hot water on the outside and inside of the
plastic bowls, being careful not to touch the ice, then unmould the
bowls. Fill with scoops of sorbet or ice cream and serve immediately.
Suggestions for decorating your ice bowls:
Edible flowers: pansies, violets,
roses, lilac, lavender, borage
Herbs: mint, lemon balm, rosemary,
thyme, fennel leaves
Berries: raspberries, blackberries,
redcurrants, wild strawberries, gooseberries
