Summer is well and truly here, and it’s got us thinking about these delicious milk sorbet ice blocks!
Fifth-generation dairy farmer Paul Roderick with his wife Linda and their boys.
We’re also thinking about all the farmers together with their crops and animals working hard in the summer heat to produce our food.
The Scenic Rim is home to many dairying families, including the Rodericks.
Paul Roderick is a fifth-generation dairy farmer with a passion for animal welfare and great-tasting milk. With his wife, Linda, and his two boys, and with his parents just up on the hill, he lives and works on the family farm at Harrisville. Like many dairy farmers, Paul has been negatively affected by the milk wars, but he is determined to continue the family dairy-farming tradition. Paul genuinely loves the farming lifestyle, and every day looks forward to waking up and beginning work.
If you want to support Australian Dairy Farmers – buy branded milk.
MILK SORBET ICE BLOCKS
This recipe was created by Brenda Fawdon, and is from Eat Local: Food, Farming and Conversation in the Scenic Rim.
Everyone enjoys an ice block on a hot day — including grown-ups. This recipe uses berries, but you can add any summer fruit you have at hand. You could replace half the milk with grape juice and add fresh seedless grapes for a refreshing option. Or add sliced mango, white peaches or figs for something different. It’s your choice. You could also replace half the milk with White Gold Creamery’s sensational buttermilk, and add local honey and dry roasted macadamia nuts for a creamy treat. Or add 100 grams of dark chocolate pieces to the milk before it’s heated, or shaved chocolate just before churning, for something truly decadent. Be creative and have fun!
INGREDIENTS
100 ml water
100 g golden castor sugar
700 ml full-cream milk
100 g liquid glucose
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
100 g strawberries or raspberries (or berries of your choice)
METHOD
Place the sugar and water in a heavy-based small saucepan, and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for a minute. Set aside to cool. The sugar syrup will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Place the milk, glucose and vanilla (if using vanilla bean, add the scraped bean as well) in a medium heavy-based saucepan, and bring to a gentle simmer on a low heat. Don’t boil. Heat for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. When cool, add the sugar syrup. Remove the vanilla bean, pour the milk mixture into an ice cream machine and churn to a soft-serve consistency. Scoop the sorbet into ice-block moulds. Place the berries on a plate and crush with the back of a fork. Top the sorbet with teaspoons of crushed fruit. Poke ice block sticks into place. Freeze overnight.
TIP: If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, place the mixture into a cold dish (stainless steel works well) and place in the freezer. Every 20-30 minutes, check your ice-cream, as the edges start to freeze, stir the mixture rapidly with a whisk or spatula to break up the partially frozen ice-cream. When it is a smooth consistency you can add it to the moulds.
Everyone loves an ice block on a hot day.