For Jacob Kenedy, founder of much-loved Soho gelateria Gelupo, nothing says summer quite like a bowl of ice cream or a refreshing sorbet, and we’d have to agree. His new book, Gelupo Gelato: A Delectable Palette of Ice Cream Recipes is out now (Bloomsbury Publishing, £14.99). A frosty masterclass in the simple art of gelato, it takes us through everything from the basics of a classic granita, to barely-melting semifreddo and ice-cream-stuffed brioche buns. In celebration of the release, we asked Jacob to share a favourite from the book. He says: “This is a very English granita, if such a thing is not contradictory – three flavours that, above all, scream of Queen and Country. It would be suitable alongside finger sandwiches and cream tea, and probably has no place in the pages of the book, but here you have it.”
Ingredients
4 large cucumbers | 100ml gin | 75ml elderflower cordial | 180g caster sugar | Possibly a little water
Method
- Juice the cucumbers (with their skins): if you have a juicer, so much the better. If not, grate them finely or purée them in a food processor, then strain through a sieve or muslin into a measuring jug, twisting and squeezing hard to extract all the juice.
- Stir together the cucumber juice with the gin, elderflower cordial and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
- Check the volume is a litre – if it’s short, make it up with water.
- Transfer the mixture to a wide dish and put it in the freezer. Once it starts to freeze at the edges, every 10–15 minutes stir it with a fork or whisk it, until the mixture is almost completely frozen and icy (this will take a long time – perhaps 4 hours). It is ready to serve in this slightly wet, slushy state.
- To keep it longer, let it freeze solid, then before serving take it out to thaw for 20 minutes or so, breaking it up with a fork. (Chill your serving glasses for at least 20 minutes in the freezer before you serve.)