Clemengold Sorbet-Granita

A while ago, the friendly folk from Clemengold sent me a huge box filled with their delicious fruit. I was over-the-moon, not only because I was excited to play with the flavours and come up with some interesting recipes, but also because throughout Winter, my family and I rely heavily on Clemengolds for snacks, lunchbox fillers and sometimes even lunch. Their flavour is so wonderfully distinct and I have never tasted a naartjie/clementine sweeter than a Clemengold. They almost taste like sweets, which is why my children adore them. Easy to peel, sweet and delicious? What more could you ask from a humble little fruit?

When I got my box of Clemengolds, we had just started experiencing the first of Spring so I wanted to use the fruit in a way that you wouldn’t expect, especially from a Winter fruit. Thus, I decided to make a refreshing sorbet. Well that was the plan anyway. I made the syrup, juiced and zested the fruit and got the mixture into the freezer. I went back every 30 minutes to beat it with a wire whisk to break up the crystals, but after about 2 hours I completely forgot about my sorbet and only remembered the next morning by which time it was one giant ice block. I knew the only option would be to scrape the surface with a fork and turn what was meant to be a smooth sorbet into an icy granita. That also failed slightly as I was tired 1/4 of the way through (scraping is hard work, ok?). So I broke the big ice block into chunks and blitzed it in my food processor until it was relatively smooth. I dumped the mixture back into the original dish and allowed it to firm up again. When I took it out of the freezer it was the perfect combination between sorbet and granita. Slightly smooth with slight texture from the crystals.

It was absolutely delicious and so incredibly refreshing. If you have an ice-cream maker, obviously it will be much easier to do this but  if you don’t, I suggest you set a timer for every 30 minutes to make sure the ice crystals get broken up to ensure a smooth, beautiful sorbet. (You can also use oranges, clementines or naartjies for this sorbet.)

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Clemengold Sorbet-Granita

Servings: 6 -8

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

• 500 ml water
• 1 cup sugar
• zest of 4 Clemengolds
• juice of 8 Clemengolds
• juice of 2 lemons

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and heat over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the Clemengold zest and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the Clemengold and lemon juice and mix to combine.
3. Pour the syrup into a freezer-safe dish/into an ice-cream maker.
4. If you're doing it by hand, set a timer for every 30 minutes and give the sorbet a good beating with a wire whisk until the sorbet is almost set.
5. Allow to set completely and serve.