Roasted plum sorbet

Serves 6-8 Desserts and puddings

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Method

Once the plums have roasted, leave them to cool, then scoop all the fruit and juice into a bowl, discarding the stones, vanilla pod pieces and cinnamon stick.

Whizz the plums until smooth – I find this easiest using a stick blender, or use a food processor – then pass through a fine-mesh nylon sieve if you want a silky smooth sorbet. I don’t mind the odd speckle of plum skin in the sorbet but it’s down to personal preference.

Pour 200ml cold water into a saucepan and add the caster sugar. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the roasted plum purée. Leave to cool, then cover and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before churning in the ice- cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

An ice-cream maker will make a lighter sorbet, but if you don’t have one, simply freeze the mixture in a plastic freezer box, whisking it every couple of hours to break up the ice crystals.

Once the sorbet has frozen, break it into manageable chunks, tip into a food processor and blend until smooth and light. Return to the freezer box and freeze until firm.