Imagination: Blueberry Thyme

A couple weeks ago, I was reading through Culinary Artistry trying to figure out some new and unique pairings that have probably not been done. One combination that I came across was blueberry and thyme. Well, I love both so why not! Based on some previously conducted research, I threw together an equation and began creating the sorbet base.

Blueberry Thyme Sorbet

4 pints of blueberries
1/4c. raw sugar
2c. water
2c. agave nectar
8 branches of thyme

Cook the berries, sugar, and water together until berries are soft. Puree in blender until smooth, and put in a bowl. Add the branches to the warm puree and chill for approx. 10 hours (or overnight). Strain sorbet base until smooth. Spin in ice cream maker according to maker's instructions. Freeze until firm and scoopable.

When I originally made this recipe, the sorbet was too soft. This was a result of too much sugar, and not enough water. I easily altered this by lessening the sugar in the original recipe (it was originally 2 1/2c. agave). Generally, people use simple syrup and water to alter the density of their sorbet base, but I prefer to use agave nectar in place of simple syrup. I find it to be more simple when creating the recipe, and I'm also kind of a sucker when it comes to natural sweeteners (I once tried making caramel with raw sugar...an ultimate fail). It's usually a lot easier to create recipes and execute sorbet recipes if you have a refractometer. That is a tool to help you measure the density (and therefore whether you need to add sugar or water) of the base rather than guessing.

I think that the flavors go quite well together. Unlike the peach cardamom, you can distinctly taste the separation in flavor, but it's definitely not a bad thing.


What do you think would pair well with this?