Grapefruit sorbet with alcohol-free Martini served with cat's tongues

Food, Styling & Photo: Oliver Schwarzwald

Refreshing and stimulating.

Yotam Ottolenghi creates the sorbet with Campari. It is a great dish. As an aperitif infused with (non-alcoholic) sparkling wine, pure as a refreshing in-between course or, as here, as a dessert with cat's tongues. Since the alcohol is not boiled away in the original and a shot is added to the glass at the end, the dish is more high-proof than my limit of 0.5%. That's why I replaced the Campari with alcohol-free Martini Vibrante. Works perfectly. With the sweet biscuits, it's the right balance. It is important that they are pink grapefruits. Only these provide the colour and above all the fine sweetness this dish needs.

The sorbet for 6 people:

500 ml juice of pink grapefruit ( approx. 4-5 fruits).

60 ml lemon juice

100 ml orange juice

200g sugar

100 ml Martini Vibrante non-alcoholic

Mix the lemon juice, orange juice and grapefruit juice. Heat 250ml of this mixture with the sugar and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Leave to cool for 10min. Add the rest of the juice. Leave in a container in the freezer compartment to geofreeze overnight. Stir every few times if possible. But I rarely do it. The original sorbet is also made in an ice cream maker. Since I don't have one, I just make it the simple way..

The cat's tongues:

About 36 pieces.

120g soft butter

120g sugar

pulp of 1 vanilla bean

1 teaspoon grated from 1 organic lemon

1 pinch of salt

60g egg white (approx. 2 eggs M)

90g sifted flour

Preheat the oven to 210° top-lower heat. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Put the butter, sugar, vanilla pulp, lemon zest and salt in the mixing bowl of a food processor and mix with the flat beater until creamy. Continue on low speed and gradually add the egg whites. When everything is evenly mixed, add the flour in three portions. As soon as everything is completely mixed, pour the mixture into a piping bag. It is best to use a nozzle 1cm wide. Pipe 9cm long strips about 4cm apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for approx. 8min until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool briefly. Then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Store in a container.

The dessert:

Scoop out a scoop of the sorbets and serve with a small shot of Martini Vibrante non-alcoholic. Garnish with a little greenery of your choice. Serve with the cat's tongues.