Plum Peach Lambic Sorbet

It’s funny how life changes in a few short years.  Four summers ago my life felt like a series of weddings – I think I went to 5 weddings in one summer/fall, including my own.  Now the weddings have died down and friends are starting to have babies.  Last weekend I was lucky enough to visit some of my very good friends and their 3-month-old little girl in Columbus, OH.

Guess who bought her the most awesome shirt in the world? So cute.

Before moving to New Orleans, I lived in Columbus for two years.  It was nice to get back to the city and see how it changed and visit my favorite places.  My past visits to Columbus have often revolved around food, and aside from baby-time this visit was no different.  People who are not familiar with Columbus are often surprised when I tell them about the city’s thriving food scene, but its no joke.  This Midwest town has it all.

Columbus is the city where I fell truly and madly in love with ice cream.  Columbus is where I lived when I bought my first ice cream machine and began my scoop adventures.  It was in Columbus where I found my muse – Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.  Jeni Britton Bauer and her ice creams have been a huge inspiration for this blog and its recipes.  I has been two years since I started this blog and I still enjoy making flavorful scoops!

When I was preparing for my trip to Columbus, I told my friends that I wanted to visit a Jeni’s store at least once a day during my visit.  They expected nothing less, so we made three separate visits to Jeni’s.  I enjoyed some of my favorite flavors – Coriander Raspberry, Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry, and Gravel Road.  I even tried a few new flavors – Golden Ale & Apricots and Brambleberry Crisp.  All of the flavors were, as always, decadent and delicious.  But I was in for a bigger treat!  Shortly after I arrived in Columbus my friends told me that Jeni was holding a book signing at the local Whole Foods and I would have the opportunity to meet her!  If you follow my tweets, then you know I was beyond excited.

The experience was pretty special.  Before moving away from Columbus I had a chance to attend an ice cream making seminar with Jeni, but meeting her face-to-face and having her sign my new Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Home book was very exciting.  I think I acted pretty normal when I met her, in fact I was a little shy (usually not the case with me).  I didn’t tell her about my blog or how she inspires me – I was too afraid I would sound like a blubbering idiot – but I did get to take a picture with her.  No regrets.  Maybe one day I’ll get to talk to her a little more about ice cream.  Jeni really is a genuinely nice person.

This week’s recipe is a variation of a recipe found in Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  The book includes a recipe for Cherry Lambic Sorbet – Jeni’s award winning and most popular sorbet.  I did not have any cherries on hand, but Jeni wrote that the recipe could be with any stone fruit, so I chose to make a Plum Peach Lambic Sorbet with juicy plums I bought at the farmers market.  The sorbet is refreshing and delightful.  Enjoy!

Plum Peach Lambic Sorbet
Adapted from recipe in Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home
Makes approximately 1 quart

1 pound fresh plums
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup peach lambic beer, chilled

Remove the stones from the plums, cut into quarters, and puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Combine pureed plums, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.  Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to disolve the sugar.  Once sugar is dissolved, remove pan from heat immediately and put in the refridgerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, strain through a seive into a bowl.  Add beer and chill throughouly (you can skip this step if your beer was well chilled).  Pour base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Place parchment over sorbet (to prevent ice crystals) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.