Friends, this stuff is it. My husband, bless his disbelieving heart, raised his eyebrows at the thought of this Minted Grapefruit Sorbet. I’m sure he was thinking (or maybe it’s because he’s said this before), “Why can’t we just eat the fruit? Why does everything have to be turned into ice cream?” My answer is always, “We can do both!” Fruit is the original dessert, so what if I juice it and run it through an ice cream maker first?
Join with me in giving him a virtual tsk-tsk and slap on the hand.
I repeat: This stuff is it.
He eventually agreed with me and proceeded to eat more than his fair share. Ahem. I guess we’ll just be making this again in a few days. I do have to concede that it would be even better eating it by the metric ton in August. The effect is a little lost on a cold, January day. But hey – I’m not going to complain. I’m going to get more ruby red grapefruit and mint. :)
Grapefruit sorbet is my favorite of the citrus sorbets, but you can certainly use another citrus juice, or a combination of juices as a substitute for the grapefruit juice. You could even use 2 cups of strained fruit puree (berries, melon, kiwi, pineapple, mango, etc.) along with a little lemon juice to balance things out to create any and every flavor of sorbet you can possibly imagine.
Sorbets, such as this one, are often used during multi-course meals as a palate cleanser. The light, refreshing flavor kind of gives the taste buds a little break so they’re ready for more good food.
My family really enjoys making floats with sorbet and sparkling water. Make a double or triple batch for a fun party drink.
Minted Grapefruit Sorbet
Refreshing grapefruit sorbet infused with mint.
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 1/2 quarts 1x
Ingredients
- For mint syrup:
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 5–10 fresh mint leaves, torn or thinly sliced (I used spearmint)
- For Sorbet:
- 2 cups freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons vodka, optional
Instructions
- To make mint syrup: Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat. Add mint leaves to the syrup, cover pan and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh sieve into a clean jar or bowl. Chill until ready to use.
- To make sorbet: In a large bowl, whisk grapefruit and lemon juices with mint syrup. Cover and place in fridge or freezer to hill until very, very cold. (If using the freezer, check after about 10-15 minutes and stir so it chills evenly.) Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions, about halfway through churning add the vodka through the feed hole, if using. Keep churning until sorbet has a soft-serve like consistency. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze until firm enough to scoop.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
6 Comments
This looks so heavenly. We have been enjoying lots of grapefruit lately and this looks like a better way to do that! Pinned it for V-day!
that looks divine. DIVINE!
this is great for my Valentines day with my hubby.
I don’t know if it gets better than that!!
Syrup turned solid once boiled, did I do something wrong?
Hi Tylo – my apologies. This post hasn’t been updated in ages. I went back in and provided more clarity to the recipe. I need to knock 7-years-ago-me up side the head for the confusing directions. It definitely wasn’t your fault!
The syrup just needs to come to a boil (not cooked for 30 minutes, which is what the original wording made it sound like). The mint leaves steep or soak in the syrup for 30 minutes to release their flavor into the syrup. I hope you’ll try it again with the new directions – it really is delicious and refreshing.