Pear, Rosemary and Thyme Sorbet

This was designed as a between course palate cleanser and worked well in that guise.  It's terribly simple as well – as, indeed, is any sorbet.

A lot of people ask why would I add both sugar and lemon juice, don’t they cancel one another out?  The answer is that of course they do taste-wise, but that's not what the sugar's there for.  The sugar helps the appropriate ice crystals to form, without which the sorbet would be crunchy and hard, not smooth and tasty.  The lemon juice counteracts the sweetness.  So you need both there.

Ingredients:

Bunch of rosemary
Bunch of thyme
75g caster sugar
3 pears
c. 100ml pear juice (kinda optional – see below)
½ lemon juice

1. Make a rosemary and thyme syrup by gently heating the sugar and the herbs in 350ml water.  Bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half.  Turn off the heat and let cool.

2. Meanwhile, peel and core the pears and stick them in the food processor.  Pour this into a measuring jug and top up with juice so that you have 500ml in total.  First time I made this I actually found that I didn’t need much juice at all – it varies depending on how big your pears are and how much they yield.

3.  Strain the syrup into the pear mix, add the lemon juice (to taste – add more if needs be) and leave the whole lot to cool, preferably in the fridge overnight.  

4.  Once cooled, churn in the ice cream maker to the manufacturer's instructions.  As with all homemade sorbets and ice creams, it will benefit from some time in the freezer before serving.