Rosy Rosé + Raspberry Sorbet

A Bright Sorbet Using Summer's Official Wine #roséallday

I’ve been seeing rosé a lot lately, both in the food world and social arenas, so I think it is safe to say that it’s the official drink of the summer. When it comes to wine, I’m more into true reds, but something in me still can’t resist the color pink! I happened upon a deeply discounted bottle of the Baja Tanga sparkling rosé one day in my favorite grocery store outlet and was drawn into the beautiful color as well as the tasting notes listed on the label: pomegranate, fig, white chocolate, strawberries and rose petals. 

Okay, so the rose petals sent me over the edge. I’ve realized I go through these phases of obsessing over floral aromatics in food; for years I was all about lavender, but rose crept up and took its place. I was first introduced to rose water in cooking when I attempted to recreate the gulab jamun that I loved so much at my favorite Indian buffet. I purchased a cheap little bottle in the international market and immediately fell in love. Adding a little rose water to anything that I typically used vanilla extract in just made the dish more beautiful. So after finding the rosé I knew that whatever I did with it, I had to bring out the floral notes with some rose water.

With summer being official, Portland days bright and sun-shiny, and temperatures pleasantly warm (please, no more record-breaking 100+ degree temps), I wanted to make something cool and refreshing to enjoy outdoors. I’ve always enjoyed fresh fruit sorbets, so I decided to try my hand at making the beautiful sparkling rosé the star of a grown folks’ version. 

I still wanted a nice fruity base for the sorbet and planned on taking full advantage of the beautiful berries that are now in season. You’ll quickly realize that I take a lot of culinary cues from random finds at a grocery store or farmers market, so it was serendipitous that I found some intriguing ‘sunshine’ raspberries during a stroll through Trader Joe’s. They were a beautiful pink and orange marbled color and tasted sweeter and less tart than the more common red version. While I think these sunshine raspberries did give my sorbet a smoother base, you could easily use regular red raspberries (and probably get an even deeper pink color as a result). 

One last thing to note: remember that this sweet little icy dessert is still made with alcohol. The simple syrup boiling step will evaporate off much of the alcohol content from the rosé, but it is not chemically possible to get rid of 100% and still have any liquid remain. So, enjoy and serve responsibly (don’t give it to the little crumb snatchers, please)!

Recipe

Rosy Rosé + Raspberry Sorbet

---

Rosy Rosé + Raspberry Sorbet

This refreshing take on sorbet marries together rosé wine, raspberries and rose water for a sophisticated summer treat.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 1 hour (plus churn, chill and freeze times)

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup rose water
• 2 cups rosé wine
• 2 cups raspberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, salt, rose water, and rosé wine and bring to a boil; stir until sugar and salt are dissolved and let boil for 1 minute
2. Remove syrup from heat and stir in raspberries and lemon juice; cover and let steep for 1 hour
3. Pour the berry and syrup mixture into a blender and puree; press the puree through a mesh strainer set over a bowl to remove seeds. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled
4. Churn chilled mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions
5. Transfer sorbet into an air-tight container and freeze until firm