Scoop (Soho, London)

Scoop is a chain of 3 "gelato parlours" (that's icecream shop to you or I) in Covent Garden, South Kensington and Soho. Having been to the Covent Garden branch previously I was tempted in through the door of Soho on the promise of vegan churros.

I ended up going a few times last year - a short walk from wfm / Picadilly tube it's convenient for grabbing something cool in hot weather (which does happen occasionally in London). It's also an alternative dessert destination after visiting somewhere like Beatroot around the corner that doesn't really do pudding.

As is often the case at such places it's the sorbets that are vegan rather than icecream. It is good quality sorbet though, so you won't feel too hard done by. Cross contamination's a definite possibility so it's worth staying vigilant whilst they're serving your order - I've heard from other vegans that they've messed up in the past.

Their churros are good, but like most places I was told the chocolate sauce isn't vegan. Thus I've opted for chocolate sorbet instead when I've had them:

I like Scoop. It's one of Soho's better places. Vegan icecream, toppings and better separation would be very much welcomed in the future, unless someone opens the London branch of Lula's Sweet Apothecary here in the meantime!

Strawberry Pimms Cocktail

A simple cocktail using the aforementioned sorbet.

This is really what I had in mind when I made the sorbet. It is however just as good eaten without the alcohol.

• 4 shots Mint & Strawberry Sorbet
• 2 shots Pimms (summer)

Shake the ingredients together and serve immediately.

At some point I'll experiment with getting some cucumber flavour in too :)

Mint & Strawberry Sorbet

Continuing on the theme of grossly out of season recipes.

Whilst out shopping a few days ago we acquired 2 punnets of organic strawberries, down from £2.99 each to 49p each. Perfect condition, just in need of eating quickly.

Recipes on line for mint-strawberry sorbet seem to involve mincing/shredding/blending the mint, which can surely only cause little specks that get stuck in your teeth like a bad mojito. The real taste of mint is in the oil, so I experimented with using muddled mint in syrup and discarding the leaves.

The result was pretty damned amazing; it's one of the nicest sorbets I've ever had either in a tub from a shop or in a restaurant. I'm guessing that part of the reason for this is the cost; I didn't use extra water or juice to bulk it out.

It's definitely a strawberry sorbet rather a mint sorbet, however the flavour totally comes through. The sugar and the lemon really lift the taste, but there's only a small amount of sugar added - it's a reasonably healthy recipe.

Ingredients:

• 400g Hulled Strawberries
• 18g Fresh Mint Leaves
• Juice of Half a Lemon
• 2 shots Simple Syrup

Hull the strawberries and blend until totally puréed.

Wash the mint and tear off leaves. Muddle with 1 shot simple syrup. Pour some of the strawberry purée in, combine then add back to the rest of the strawberry. Force the mixture through a sieve to remove the mint, which should then be discarded.

Whisk in another shot of simple syrup and the juice of half a lemon. Transfer to a freezable container and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Take out and whisk briefly then place back. For the next 2-3 hours repeat this process of whisking every 15-25 minutes, to ensure that no large ice crystals form.

Before serving (if your freezer has turned it very hard); remove from the freezer and allow to sit for a few minutes before scooping.