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Posts tagged ‘sorbet’

Mar 17

Buttermilk Lemon Sorbet-2
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lemon buttermilk sorbet

I have a weakness for lemons. (Had it all my life – have learned to live with it.) Pair them with the delicate lactic tang of creamy buttermilk and you have (or I do) chilled perfection on a spoon. It’s that simple.

Refreshing, light and (as desserts go)  as low fat as you’d like it to be. I made mine with a whole milk buttermilk (freshly-homemade) – but you could also use a low-fat buttermilk – and in either case, compared to whole cream, it’s a waist-watcher’s dream.

NOTE : Ice-cream makers are relatively inexpensive.  Good ice-cream, gelatos and sorbets on the other hand, are not. But they’re very inexpensive to make. With fresh fruit season nearing us, with all the berries and peaches, and need I go on, it might be something you want to consider? Mine is a simple sort – a canister remains in the freezer until you’re ready to use it. Pull it out, put the cooled liquid in, set it on its base, turn on the machine, leave it 20 to 30 minutes as it whirs away. Return to a well-churned, additive-free, fresh and frozen treat.

Lemon Buttermilk Sorbet

about 12 scoops – you decide how many portions that is :)  

  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • zest of 1/2 to 1 lemon, finely chopped
  • 1 cup sugar (you might be able to get away with slightly less)
  • 1/4 cup neutral-tasting honey or coconut nectar (a syrup) or agave syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
  • 2 cups fresh buttermilk, shaken to blend

Place a container (about quart-size) in the freezer to chill.

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May 12

Strawberry Sorbet
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Strawberry Sorbet

I’ve mentioned before this love of strawberries, and how Oregon has the best on the planet. But we’re STILL waiting for Spring here, so we’ve got a long wait yet before strawberries can be plucked from their beds in our back yard. Sometimes a person gets a little antsy waiting and we turn to the freezer. Of course this version can’t measure up to a sorbet or ice-cream made with berries still warm from the sun, but it will do in a pinch. As it did last night.

We have a high-powered blender which makes easy easy work of this. To be honest, I think blenders fainter of heart would really struggle. I’ll offer up a different version using fresh berries in an upcoming post. Sorry to make you wait…you’re already tasting it aren’t you?

  •  6 cups frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp. Kirsch (optional)

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May 9

Grapefruit Sorbet-

Pink Grapefruit Sorbet

Could this possibly be the most refreshing dessert on earth? Yes, it could. Granted, you may not always be looking for refreshing when contemplating that final swallow of the evening, but if you are, you don’t need to look farther than this! It is everything good about grapefruit – the slightest bit sweet, deliciously tart, squirt-in-your-mouth juicy, thirst-quenching, palate-cleansing, pretty to look at, and all of that somehow concentrated. I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and I’m still smiling about it!

Pink Grapefruit Sorbet

about 6 servings (or so)

  • 1 T. finely grated grapefruit rind
  • 3 cups freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice, from 3 or 4 heavy ruby grapefruits
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 3/4 cup sugar

Put the zest of grapefruit, the grapefruit juice and the lemon juice in a bowl. If any seeds fell in while juicing the grapefruit, run the juice through a large enough sieve to allow some pulp through but fine enough to capture the seeds. Go fishing for any seeds that got away. Add 1/2 cup of juice to a small saucepan, along with the sugar, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved completely. Add this syrup back into the bowl of juice and chill. Pour the chilled solution into your ice-cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. The sorbet may have to chill in your freezer for a couple hours before it’s the best consistency for serving. (Oh, I so want you to know how good this is!)

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For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, click here.

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May 9

Mango Sorbet

Mango Citrus Sorbet

We have a rather large strawberry patch in our yard and every summer, in June and July, the little ones and I gather together to tiptoe through it, uncovering and collecting sweet red berries for our bowls.  A couple years ago, we had an extraordinary harvest and it was that summer we determined we simply had to have an ice-cream maker. That was the very year too we discovered that there’s little in the way of cold things quite as delicious as freshly-picked strawberries turned into ice-cream. We don’t do a lot of desserts at our house, but when we do, we try to make them special. This little mango sorbet fits that bill. And it’s light on the sugar, as desserts go, which makes it even better. (We’ll talk strawberries, come their season.)

Mango Sorbet

(serves about 6)

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 ripe mangoes (this may turn out to be more than you need, depending on their size)
  • 2 Tbl. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. (or more) finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
  • pinch salt

Equipment you’ll need: Food processor (or powerful blender) and an ice-cream maker

Place a container in the freezer to receive your sorbet when it’s done.

Put the sugar into a food processor along with the zest of the lemon. Process 15-30 seconds. (Don’t bother washing processor bowl afterwards.)

Combine 3/4 cups of water and the now-lemony sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until the sugar dissolves, and then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the pan.

In the meantime, cut the mango’s flesh away from the pit. Score the flesh in a grid-pattern, cutting down to the peel, then invert the peel so that the little squares fan out. Remove the little squares of mango from their peel, dropping them into the bowl of a food processor. Process until very smooth. Measure out 1-1/2 cups of the mango purée and stir it into the cooled sugar syrup along with the lemon juice, lime zest and a pinch of salt. (If you have more than enough mango purée, you can set it aside for tomorrow’s smoothie.) Stir until blended.

Freeze the mango mixture in a ice-cream maker following manufacturer’s directions. When it reaches the right consistency, spoon it into the chilled container, cover, and freeze until ready to serve. You can adorn a scoop with a little extra lime zest to hint at what’s hidden inside.

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for a printer-friendly version, click here.

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