Sorbet Recipes From Weidner's

The easiest Begonia flower sherbert
This is so good and so easy. This is what we do for the Begonia festival but you can do it for nay dinner, desert of party.

Mango apricot sherbert. It can be any fruit flavor. I looked for lemon but couldn't find it in any large size.

Pick tuberous begonia flowers, wash and remove from the stem. I usually chop mine with a pair of kitchen shears. Sometimes I have put them into my food processor. That make a quicker and smaller confetti like pieces.
Soften the sherbert just a bit, place into your mixer and blend the begonia petals back into it. Add some begonia juice from the petals if you have a blender. Not essential.
Repack into your Sherbert container or into an already frozen Ice Cream container for freezer ice cream makers. I only know the brand called Donvier but there are others.

Serve it as a dessert any way you like.

Confetti Begonia Sorbet
On large can of frozen concentrated Lemonade. Add water according to the directions but substitute one of the cans of water with a simple syrup made by boiling equal parts water and sugar for 5 minutes. This makes the Sorbet less icy and eliminates the need for double blending. You can add some fresh strawberries or a can of Strawberry daiquiri mix if you like. Four spoons of Triple Sec [optional] Mix thoroughly and freeze in ice cube trays or in a Donvier Ice cream maker. When partially frozen whip the mixture in the food processor or blender to make it smooth. The more times you do this the smoother and softer will be the Sorbet.
Serve as a light dessert or as a change between courses of a meal.


Begonia Cream Delight

This can be a dip or a spread.
Use one 8 oz package of soft cream cheese, About 1/4 to 1/3 strawberry or other jelly or jam. Some fruit juice or other liquid to soften more if needed. Wash and coarsely chop begonia flowers to make about 1/3 cup. This is a matter of taste so adjust to what you like. Mix the cream cheese mix in a food processor or mixer and add the chopped begonia petals. For the adventuresome you might try out a bit of Jalapeno pepper or pepper jelly.
Use the spread with begonia petals on Ritz Crackers or on thin sliced nut bread or rounds of toast.

picture of 3 sorbets in recipe

Here you will see a picture of some the Sorbets we served for the Pansy Celebration. Starting at #1 at the bottom is Piña-colada, #2 is the Four Fruits Sorbet that we called Lemon Frost, and at the top right is my famous Plum sorbet. Enjoy!

If you are a newcomer to this site a word of explanation is in order. At Weidners

Gardens we plant the field with 18,000 (almost) pansies for customers to dig in the old fashioned field grown tradition. One group of these pansies is a series of violas by Waller Seed Company. That series is called''Sorbet' with names like Lemon Frost Sorbet, Blueberry etc. They all tie in with fruits and a fruit sorbet is a natural. Last year

The first two are from the Donvier Ice Cream Makers recipe book. Thanks, Donvier.

Four Fruit Sorbet, renamed Lemon Frost
makes about one pint but can be doubled to make a quart.

½ cup sugar with ¼ cup water. I boiled this about 5 minutes and then cooled it.
8 ½ ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
½ to one very ripe banana, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice ,(I used the bottled kind, less work)
¾

cup fresh orange juice; 2 teaspoons grenadine syrup.
Put everything in a blender, blend well and then add the sugar syrup and blend again. Freeze in your Donvier or put the mix in a heavy plastic bag or other container. The Sorbet stays nice and doesn't get icy and grainy. It was delicious!

Strawberry Citrus Sorbet
Same as above only the ingredients are as follows.
2 cups sliced strawberries, tightly packed. (I buy strawberries in season and crush and freeze them so this was easy, I just pulled a couple of bags from the freezer and didn't really measure.)
½ cup freshly squeezed Orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. I used the same sugar syrup mixture in this Sorbet since I did not have time to agitate it in the Donvier and wanted to be sure it was not icy. I put in ¾ cup of the sugar syrup. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. Taste to see if more citrus is needed.

Toward the ends of the evening I became more creative. The Pina/Collada Sorbet came from a bottle of Coconut Milk/pineapple mix. I added some more lemon juice and a bit of orange juice. They all have the sugar syrup to keep them soft. The frozen mix would probably do the same. It was a fun experience.

This is really good! When your plum tree has a crop you have a lot of plums!!! This is one good use.

Recipe for Weidners' Santa Rosa Plum Sorbet Makes about 1 quart 1 & 1/3 pounds of soft ripe Sta Rosa Plums.. (how much is that in cups or plums? Not too important.)
7/8 C Water 7/8 C Sugar, boiled 5 minutes to make a simple syrup.(I just made it a cup of sugar and a cup of water. Wash, cut up and cook plums until tender, stir occasionally, about 15 minutes Puree using a food processor or blender., Chill. Boil sugar and water for about 5 minutes and add to the puree. Put into the freezer. When partially frozen, whip in the processor about a minute or until smooth and a bit lighter in color. Freeze again partially then whip again. Repeat one more time and your sorbet is ready Note. You can freeze it completely at any stage and just defrost it enough to use an ice cream maker. You may also take the original recipe and add kirsch to taste before freezing. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup water when cooking the plums, but your plums may be so juicy that they don't need it. I use lots of plums, add just enough water to keep them from burning. Add sugar syrup to taste. The mix will be tart and very red and plummy. Serve with whip cream and crisp cookies if you like.

Lavender Butter to serve on little Crustinis or toast rounds

Butter, Lavender and Orange marmalade

Mash up with your fingers of snip into tiny pieces soft lavender leaves and a few flowers. No particular amound, you'll be mixing to your taste

Add to a mixture of butter and orange marmalade. Taste it by putting some on hot toasted bread. Need more lavender? Wait a few hours to let the lavender flavor mellow then add more if needed. You should have the flavor but not the bitterness.