Ingredients
GIN & TONIC SORBET
- 350g caster sugar
- 4 tbs gin
- 1 lime, zested, juiced
- 1 lemon, zested, juiced
- 500ml (2 cups) tonic water
JUNIPER MERINGUE
- ¼ tsp lime zest, dried
- ¼ tsp lemon zest, dried
- ¼ tsp orange zest, dried
- ¼ tsp dried juniper berries
- ¼ tsp coriander seeds
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 220g (1 cup) caster sugar
SWEET PICKLED PEAR
- 1 lemon
- 5 cloves
- 1 tsp allspice berries, crushed
- 5cm-piece ginger, thinly sliced
- 250ml (1 cup) white wine vinegar
- 2 cinnamon quills
- 500g caster sugar
- 6 pears, peeled, halved, cored
Method
-
- To make sorbet, place sugar and 300ml water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Stir in remaining ingredients. Churn in an ice cream maker until frozen. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 4 hours.
- Meanwhile, to make juniper meringue, preheat oven to 120C and line two oven trays with baking paper.
- Place dried zests, juniper berries and coriander seeds in a small food processor and process until a fine powder. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tbs at a time and whisking well between each addition, until sugar dissolves. Continue to whisk on high speed for 3 minutes.
- Add ground zest and spice mixture and fold to combine. Spread onto prepared trays in a thin layer and place in oven. Reduce temperature to 90C and cook for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave meringue, with door ajar, to cool.
- To make pickled pear, thinly peel lemon, making sure not to include any pith. Place peel in a saucepan with remaining ingredients, except pears, over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add pears and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
- Divide pears among serving bowls. Crumble meringue on top and serve with a scoop of sorbet.
COOK'S TIP
To make dried zest, spread on baking paper and leave to dry at room temperature for 24 hours.
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