Gin & Tonic Floats with Roasted Cherry Sorbet
Gin & Tonic Floats with Roasted Cherry Sorbet
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
- Blender or Food Processor
- Highball Glasses, 2
Ingredients
Gin & Tonic
- 4 oz gin, well chilled
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 8-12 oz tonic water, well chilled
- 1 cup Roasted Cherry Sorbet or sorbet of your choice
- 2 lime wheels for garnish
Roasted Cherry Sorbet
- 2 lbs fresh cherries, pitted and stemmed (tart or sweet is fine)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Instructions
Make the Sorbet:
- Move one of the oven racks to the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F.
- In a 9" x 13" baking dish, mix the pitted cherries with the sugar and salt. Roast the cherries for 30-35 minutes until bubbly. Mix in the water and roast for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Puree the cooled cherries and liquid in a blender or food processor. Add the lime juice to taste. You can add more than is called for if that's your preference.
- Not a necessary step but if you're after a super smooth sorbet, push the puree through a sieve to sift out any errant bits of cherry skin. Be sure to push the solids firmly to extract every bit of cherry goodness. You should end up with about 4 cups of puree.
- Allow the puree to chill in the refrigerator until quite cold, 2 hours at minimum. Process it through your ice cream maker, following manufacturer instructions. I use a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment so I have to freeze it for a minimum of 16 hours before processing.
- Transfer soft sorbet to a freezer safe container (a quart size deli container is perfect for this recipe) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Assemble the Floats
- Add 2 oz of gin and 1/2 oz of lime juice to each highball glass.
- Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup sorbet to each glass.
- Slowly fill with tonic water, trying not to overflow the glass--but it's kind of fun and not a big deal if you do. 😉
- You'll notice the sorbet will immediately start to melt into the liquid, turning the drink into a glorious shade of cherry red. Garnish with lime wheels and enjoy immediately!
My introduction to gin must have been 7 or 8 years ago at Jungsik, a lovely Korean restaurant in New York. I don’t remember the name of the drink but I will never forget the flavor. It was simple enough—yuzu, ginger, and gin over crushed ice in a coupe. Bright and barely sweet with a subtle spicy kick, I could have swigged it down in one gulp!
In the years since, I’ve sampled many cocktails in many restaurants across Manhattan and Brooklyn and I always find myself coming back to gin. It’s such a stalwart of classic cocktail culture yet still fresh and innovative. And I’ve never met a gin that didn’t like a squeeze of citrus and a pinch of spice, which seems to be my go-to flavor profile most of the time.
In the Year of COVID, mixing an evening cocktail has been a great way to delineate the workday from the rest of life. I’m having fun concocting new recipes and a few standouts will soon be on the blog, among them a Ginger Turmeric Gin Rickey that will knock your socks off! Somewhere along the way, I must have come across a recipe for G&T floats because I haven’t been able to get the idea out of my head for months. A refreshing G&T is just right for warm weather months but why stop there? Floats are so fun and festive, who says they’re just for kids anyway?
The idea for the cherry sorbet came from my dear friend, Cindy, a Michigan native, who pines for those beautiful Michigan cherries every time summer rolls around. Since I always add a squeeze of lime to my G&T’s—though I know that’s not strictly orthodox—the thought of cherry and lime together sounded lip smackingly delicious!
I found this straightforward recipe for Roasted Cherry Sorbet on good ole Food52 from EMILYC and it’s splendid. Roast the cherries with sugar, add a little water, a bit of lime juice, blitz , sieve, refrigerate, and your sorbet is ice cream maker ready! The most annoying part of the whole operation is pitting the cherries. It’s a fiddly exercise, even with a proper cherry pitter, so I recommend turning on your favorite show or some music and taking your time. (And if you, like most normal people, do NOT have a cherry pitter, check out Kitchen Confidante’s post on alternative cherry pitting options.) Oh, and please, please wear an apron or a shirt you don’t care about, those cherries WILL spit at you. If you ask me, small price to pay for good sorbet. 😉
