See you soon and apple sorbet

I'm going on a holiday and I've found no better way to say goodbye than to make a completely natural and super organic sorbet with the apples from my apple-tree. The apples I've picked are not very ripe, because until this summer the apple-tree would only produce gnome-size apples. Therefore we hadn't cared much for its apples and we've never hung any bird-scaring device. But whimsical as it is, the apple-tree has decided to produce normal-size apples this season. The bad thing is that we are compelled then to be faster than the birds, difficult thing when you're already over 40... The moment any apple starts to blush... there go the birds. They devour the apple, lovely little birds... ahem. Nature is a wonderful thing.


This is one of those Frankenstein-recipes, gathered from various patches from here and there, quite simple though:

Apple and cider sorbet

• 1 small bottle cider (250 ml)
• Juice from one and a half lemon
  
• 6 green apples
  
• 3 tbsp agave syrup
• 2 tsp apple and pear syrup
  
• 1 dash apple liqueur (optional, I added it to boost the apple flavour, but I'm sure that more ripe apples than mine would do the trick)
  

Put the cider in a pot and bring to a boil along with both syrups. Turn off the heat and let cool. I don't use sugar if I can avoid it, but go ahead, you can ruin your health if you like.

Peel, core and cut the apples. Sprinkle them with the lemon juice as you go, to prevent them from browning. Add the cider syrup and process it to a fine puree. Try for sweetness and adjust if necessary. It should be slightly on the excess side, because once it is frozen it will taste less sweet. Apple and pear syrup is a natural sweetener, consisting of concentrated juice. It's perfect to boost the flavour in apple desserts. It only has one disadvantage: the color, dark as molasses. In fact I added a bit too much and the resulting color was strange, to put it mildly, like that of a cinammon sorbet instead of apple´s. That's why the size of the picture is so small, not to ruin my slender reputation.


Once the puree is sweet to your taste, just freeze it in an ice cream maker (if you're lucky to have one) or in the freezer, beating it every now and then, till it reaches sorbet consistency.


And... I hope you can excuse me for not answering your comments within 15 days. Happy holidays, everyone!