Recipe Diaries Vol. 8 – It's only THE Best Cocoa Sorbet

It took a while to get this one just right but boy were we proud of this recipe. It's hard to imagine what a world would be like without chocolate, but if this is anything to go by then surely it can't be that bad....

Turn back the clock to early January 2015 when we felt like the sun would never shine again and we were faced with the daunting task of developing a dessert that would not only satisfy a demanding sweet tooth but wouldn't leave you dreading the trip home on an over-full stomach. Our Valentine's day menu needed to end on an absolute high and this could only have meant chocolate. With the responsibility of developing a dessert for the first time in my life I decided to up the ante by trying to come up with something that was dairy free (not an easy task to take on when it comes to desserts, trust us!). I love the flavour that cocoa has, yet that idea of a dense, richly flavoured “iced confection” had always eluded me and has drastically limited my desire to even consider taking on another chocolate ice-cream. Thus was born a somewhat foolish idea to make a cocoa sorbet that had all the qualities I wanted, yet was dairy free and would make our guests feel, at least a little bit, guilt-free! This recipe is absolutely solid and we're excited to share it with you, also, it's pretty damn easy. Please comment below and let us know what you think.

The S'more's dessert featuring our Cocoa Sorbet

You Will Need:

• 250g Cocoa Powder
  
• 340g Caster Sugar
  
• 13g Salt
  
• 750g Water
  
• 14g White Bacardi Rum
  
• 2.9g Xanthan Gum
  

Method:

1. In a blender or a large bowl, combine all ingredients excluding the Xantham powder then blitz (using a hand blender if you have one) or whisk together until well combined.

2. Sprinkle the Xantham Gum over the liquid, while simultaneously blending or whisking vigorously.

3. Strain this sorbet base well then chill to at least 3ºC before churning in your choice of ice-cream machine.

4. Once churned, let set in the freezer for at least 5 hours before attempting to scoop. We recommend lightly placing a piece of cling film over the sorbet to minimalise any icy-ness (see pics below). It takes some time but it's worth it! Don't forget to let us know how you get on. R.