Dairy-free dilemma -- Peach Ginger Sorbet

Breastfeeding my son has meant a lot of things to me. It has meant a special bond that couldn't be duplicated with bottles, it has meant giving him the best start I possibly can, it has even helped me through a grieving period as I lost my long-time furry companion Banshee, just two days after he was born.

Unfortunately, it has also meant giving up dairy. Whenver I ate dairy foods, his little tummy would bloat up and he would be irritable and fussy. So it was with a heavy heart that I made the choice to abstain from my second most-favourite food group (the first most-favourite being chocolate... yes it IS a food group in my world).

So here I was in the dead of summer with no yogurt, no cheese and no ice cream. I needed a solution that would make me feel a little less deprived and one day Hubby came home with some raspberry sorbet. It was tasty, and fruity, and I thought, 'hey, I could get used to this.'

Since it's peach season and I can't go to the store without coming back with a basket of our home-grown goodness that is an Ontario peach, I decided on a peach sorbet.

I paired it with ginger and for a little extra richness demerara sugar. While a good idea in theory, the demerara was a little much, so I cut it to a third in the recipe and used white sugar instead. Ginger is a natural match for peach, so I simmered some slices of fresh ginger in the syrup before adding it to the peaches. This is a refreshing dessert for summer's day and a great way for this hard core ice cream lover to feel a little less deprived.

Here's how you do it:

Peach-ginger sorbet

400 grams of peeled and pitted peaches

1/3 cup demerara sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1 knob of ginger (about 1 inch), peeled and cut into slices

juice of half lemon

Put both sugars and water into a pot on the stove, and heat until sugar starts to melt. Add ginger slices and continue to cook until sugar is completely melted. Let cool. Process the peaches in a food processor until smooth. Strain syrup into peach mixture, add lemon juice and process in ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Put into freezer and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.