When the weather gets hot, ice cream can be a refreshing treat, but why not make the most of the fresh flavors of summer with tangy, delicious, and nutritious fruit sorbet. So many wonderful varieties of fruit and berries are in season during the summer, and blending them into a frozen dessert is an easy way to preserve and enjoy them. Sorbet is a frozen dessert made from frozen sugar water and fresh fruit. It is naturally fat free and includes all of the benefits of eating fruit, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
The basic recipe for sorbet is as follows: One part sugar, two parts water, four parts fruit. Many recipes also include a small amount of lemon or lime juice to add a bit of extra flavor.
First, make a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar melts. Allow it to cool and set it aside.
Next, unless you are using berries, cut the fruit into small cubes, place it in a blender or food processor along with the simple syrup and lemon or lime juice to taste (about 1/8 of a cup for every cup of fruit), and purée until smooth.
If you have an ice cream maker, spoon the mixture into it and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you do not have an ice cream maker, place the mixture in a tall sealing container and freeze it for about 90 minutes. Remove it and stir the sorbet with a whisk. Return it to the freezer and stir once every hour for about four hours. This will incorporate air into the mixture, making it light and creamy.
The types of flavors you can enjoy in sorbet are limited only by your imagination. You can try blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, peaches, cherries, and more. Don’t feel limited to a single flavor. As long as the ratio of fruit to simple syrup is correct, you can add as many different kinds of fruit into the mix as you like!
Jaime McLeod is the Web Content Editor for the Farmers' Almanac. She is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, loves eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
3 comments
Robert – Yoya’s suggestion is a good one, but really, why not just leave them in?
Have you ever tried a tea strainer with two layers of cheese cloth in it??? I don’t see how this would not work perfectly.
How can you remove the seeds from Rasberries in your sorbet, I spent the better part of a day and a half picking them out one at a time.
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