Red Wine Sorbet

Warning: Spoilers everywhere!
Season 6 episode 10: The Winds of Winter
   Confessions of a Mad Queen

With the Night King and his army destroyed, it's time to turn our attentions back to King's Landing and focus on our girl Cersei Lannister, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die," said Cersei back in season 1 and here we are almost at the end of our story, and she is sitting her beautifully couture-d self on the Iron Throne. Cersei's revenge list too long to recount, but let's just remember Cersei watching from her tower as the Great Sept of Baelor explodes with wildfire, taking out most of her enemies. She smiles. She takes a sip of that wine. Delicious. Hold my wine, Night King, now that is cold.

This week we honor the Queen with something sweeter and more delicious than you'd expect - a Red Wine Sorbet sweetened with raspberries. Because for Cersei Lannister, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, revenge is very sweet, ice cold, and tastes like wine.

What can we say about this sorbet which uses just 4  ingredients to make a beautiful and sophisticated treat - it's the genius brainchild of David Lebovitz, from this book Ready for Dessert, one of our favorite and most often used cookbooks. It's the brightness of raspberries and the headiness of red wine married in a shameless, indulgent dessert. If you don't have an ice cream machine, this recipe can easily be made into a lovely granita - either way, this dessert would be perfect on warm afternoons during the long summers, especially when a little plotting is in order.

But when things get a little too hot, do as the Queen would do - sit back and enjoy the sweet, sweet taste of revenge which, as we know, is best served ice cold. It's wicked good. So good it might even make Cersei smile.  Enjoy.

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Red Wine Sorbet
by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 quart (1 liter)

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) water
• 1 bottle (750 ml) fruity red wine, such as Merlot, Zinfandel, or Beaujolais
• 3 cups (15 ounces/400 g) raspberries

 

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, water, and red wine to a boil and let boil for 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let steep for 1 hour.
2. To purée the berries and remove the seeds, using a rubber spatula, press the mixture through a mesh strainer set over a medium bowl or pass it through a food mill fitted with a fine disk into a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
3. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions or
   

To make a granita, follow these instructions from theKitchn:  

1. Pour the fruit purée into a shallow pan for freezing. Granita freezes faster in a metal pan, so I reach for my 9×13 cake pan, but use what you’ve got. Freeze the granita for 30 to 45 minutes, until it’s just started to freeze on the top and sides of the pan. 
2. Fork the granita. Scrape the partially frozen granita with the tines of a fork, breaking up any large chunks. You’ll repeat this step two or three times over the course of freezing. 
3. Freeze again before serving. Return the granita pan to the freezer for a total of 4 hours before serving. That’s it!

Tip:

• You can use frozen raspberries in this recipe. There's no need to thaw the berries before adding them to the warm wine.