Champagne Sorbet with Raw Chocolate Shots: For Waitrose

I was thrilled to be asked by Waitrose to be one of their Christmas bloggers and create a Christmas recipe.  Immediately my mind began to whirr what type of recipe should I post?  Almost at once I decided that a celebratory pud was the way to go, and then suddenly I was hit by two words (metaphorically speaking – of course!) Champagne and Chocolate.   There was no going back.

Not much can beat the combination of Champagne and Chocolate.  So a little further down the recipe development process I came up with the idea of a Champagne Sorbet matched with a Raw Chocolate Shot.  Naturally gluten and grain free, and for my version dairy and refined sugar free too.  Job done.  Or so I thought.

I first tried champagne sorbet at my cousin’s wedding, some 15 or so years ago.  It was love at first bite.  I’ve never tried to make it before and my initial research indicated it could be quite tricky and I was determined to create my recipe with only natural ingredients and no refined sugar.

Finally after several (some disastrous) attempts and a borrowed  ice cream maker from a friend -I used this model).  I hit sorbet gold. I was actually whopping in my kitchen!

But it wasn’t quite over yet… I had to get a sorbet that tasted of champagne – as let’s face it,  its really too precious to just use for the sake of it.   More experimenting followed with and without a host of additional flavours (lemon juice, zest, orange juice etc) and different quantities of champagne.  But in the end  I found keeping it really simple and going large on the champagne gave the best tasting results, allowing the champagne to the be the star.

Don’t be daunted if you haven’t tried raw chocolate before. It literally takes minutes and stirring 3 ingredients together.   If you want to I’m sure you could use regular coco powder but you’ll miss out taste wise and the added super nutrients see my post How To Make Chocolate to find out more.

So finally I had the perfect pudding for my post.  Champagne sorbet and raw chocolate shots, the perfect partners in a pudding to remember and enjoy.  The light fragrant sorbet in which you can still feel the champagne bubbles on your tongue, perfectly paired with the decadent rich indulgence of the silky smoothness of the raw chocolate shot.

One of the most misguided preconceptions is that by eating food that naturally doesn’t contain grains and gluten that you miss out on the good stuff.  But in reality I now enjoy better food than I ever have (and I’ve always been food obsessed).

I no longer chomp on chocolate filled with high processed sugars, artificial flavours. colours, preservatives, and trans fats or processed food with ingredients and chemicals I can’t pronounce let alone know what they are.  No more crashes of energy, bloating or feeling starving (even after eating a big meal) and no more constant battling to lose or maintain my weight.  Sounds really deprived doesn’t it?

So the lovely people at Waitrose have extended their gluten-free range of Christmas goodies this year (it’s also all milk free) and they sent me a selection to taste.

We really enjoyed everything with a special shout out to the mini Christmas Cake bites, the mince pies were also a big hit, although one small note, they did fall apart very easily.

My final thoughts to leave you with are what a converted fan of a good ice cream maker I now am.  Now top of my Christmas list, as it’s a fabulous way of making your own delicious creations without the chemicals and preservative nasties you find even in the higher quality ice creams.  It will also pay for itself in a few months.  So if you don’t already have one I hope the big man in red is kind to you and you too enjoy this ever so simple but heavenly pudding creation.

CHAMPAGNE SORBET WITH CHOCOLATE SHOTS

A decadent little bit of glamour to add to any meal or party to celebrate an event or just life.  The perfect balance of light sweet fizz and dense rich chocolate.  

INGREDIENTS

Champagne Sorbet

• 1 x bottle of Champagne or fizz of your choice
• 1 x cup, 236ml, of water
• 1/2 cup, 255g, of organic stevia
• Edible rose petals to scatter (optional) .  I used Waitrose Cooks Ingredients Rose Petals

Raw Chocolate Pots

• 1 x cup, 255g, of raw cacao powder
• 4 x tablespoons of coconut oil
• 3 x tablespoons of honey (ideally raw, organic and local)

 TO MAKE

CHAMPAGNE SORBET

• Bring the water and stevia to the boil and leave on rolling boil for 6 mins before adding the champagne and continue on a high heat for a further 5 mins
• Take off the heat and leave to cool before leaving covered in the fridge over night
• Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker, but note most need the inner mixer to be frozen for hours, ideally 24 before use.
• For best results serve this sorbet immediately and scatter with edible rose petals.  You can put the sorbet back in the freezer but for the perfect dinning experience and too throughly appreciate the champagne eat immediately before its frozen solid.

RAW CHOCOLATE SHOTS

1. Put a heat proof bowl over in a pan filled 1/3 with water gently heat and melt the coconut oil in the bowl
2. Stir in the cacao powder, honey and a pinch of himalayan or good quality salt.  When fully combined pour in to your shot pots.

Notes: These chocolate shots will keep in the shot glasses until your ready to eat them for up to 3 hours. Or up to 3 days covered in the fridge, take out of the fridge for at least one hour before eating.  

Enjoy!

Disclosure:  I have not received payment from Waitrose for this post.  

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