Back in 2004, the folks at Cooks’ Illustrated included a recipe for Fruit Sherbet in their May/June issue. I let the idea of that recipe simmer for almost 5 years before trying it. Before I made the Blackberry-Strawberry Sherbet, I made plain Strawberry Sherbet using that recipe as a guide. I served it last month for my mother-in-law’s birthday party.
To say that I loved this recipe is an understatement. If I could eat Strawberry Sherbet every single day until my last day on earth, I would never, ever tire of it. (My friends know I don’t exaggerate.)
I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of ice creams, sorbets, and sherbets. (Because let’s face it, I am.) Oh, maybe you’ve noticed that I disproportionately post ice cream recipes over anything else. But I can’t help myself. Some people buy shoes excessively. I make ice cream.
I used one pint of strawberries and it worked perfectly.
Strawberry Sherbet
adapted from Cooks’ Illustrated
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 pint (16 oz.) strawberries, rinsed well and cut into quarters
3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vodka
1 cup heavy cream
Instructions:
In a non-reactive saucepan, cook strawberries with sugar, water and salt over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the strawberries soften. (About 3 or 4 minutes.) Remove from heat and puree in a blender or food processor.
Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Add the lemon juice and vodka. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill until very cold, about 40 degrees F. (Don’t let it freeze.)
When the strawberry puree is cold, using a whisk, whip the heavy cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. While whisking constantly, add the puree to the cream in a slow, steady stream against the side of the bowl.
Immediately start ice cream machine and pour the puree/cream mixture through the feed hole. Churn until the sherbet has the texture of soft-serve ice cream.
Transfer to a plastic container and press plastic wrap onto the surface of the sherbet. Freeze until firm, about three hours. Serve.
Makes about 1 quart.
17 Comments
Yesterday my husband told me that your husband is a lucky man because you make such scrumptious treats and delicious meals. Plus, your pictures always seem to do your dishes justice. I really enjoy the blog. Now I just need to try the more difficult recipes:)
I am an frozen dessert fanatic. I love it all..gelato, ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, etc! This looks lovely!! I will have to find some fresh strawberries!
Oh, I LOVE ice cream. Sweet cream from marble slab and homemade vanilla from blue bell are my two favorite flavors (don’t care for other unless it’s just a mixin to vanilla ice cream) My honey actually bought me an ice cream maker for Valentine’s day two years ago and for awhile we made ice cream constantly. Not sure why we stopped. Need to fix that.
~ingrid
I would just like to come over and try some of this and all the other ice cream, sherbet, sorbets that you make.
It looks fabulous.
Glad to know I am not the only one who waits for years to try a recipe that is bookmarked.
The Strawberries are perfect right now. We have been out picking them here in S FL and, since I cannot fly you here to make this for me, I will try it myself this weekend Thanks!
OH that looks soooo good Lindsey!!! I can’t wait for Strawberry season to hit!
that looks so delicious. i’m going to make that soon. i bought my icecream maker because of you and your yummy photos of icecream. FYI
See you have created a problem!Fist I a on a Diet! Second all I want this year is a new Cameraand you guessed it! AN ICE CREAM MAKER! I AM OBSESSED! What kind do you have?
Thanks for all the comments!
Emily, I wrote a post about ice cream makers awhile back–here’s the link:
http://cafejohnsonia.blogspot.com/2008/06/kitchen-q-buying-ice-cream-maker.html
by soon, i meant, i just sent Ethan to the store for strawberries and cream! it is mixing in the maker right now. thanks for the recipe!
Oh my gosh…this looks sooo wonderful!!
Ohhhh…yummy!
How did you know I just got some strawberries yesterday? LOL! I made the key lime sorbet btw and it is delicious. It was pretty slushy after churning but it froze really nice and smooth. It is really tart though. Pucker tart. Just fyi in case you decide to make it. :)
So delicious looking! I’d really love to do this with cantaloupe, but am unsure if I would need to add the water when I pureed it (skipping the heating entirely of course). Any advice? Thanks!
Amanda–
I think you are on the right track with that. Just make sure you have about 3 cups of puree. And you may want to use a little less sugar and maybe try melon liqueur instead of vodka. Let me know how it goes. Sounds super refreshing!
Hey Lindsey! Ok, so I tried it. SO GOOD. Here’s what I did: pureed one whole cantaloupe (about 4 cups cubed), took out 1/2 cup of the puree and heated it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup vanilla sugar, 2 teaspoons lime zest, and 2 tablespoons vodka. Mixed it back in with the plain puree and chilled completely, then followed the rest of the directions as written (using 1 cup heavy cream). The end result was an incredibly creamy, delicately flavored sherbet, which I have a feeling would be heavenly scooped on top of a sugar cookie or something like that. Hope you get a chance to try it sometime. thanks!
Amanda! That sounds sooo good. I’m definitely going to make this for my husband. I am allergic to melons–it’s so sad. I dream of eating it and then I try to and get sick again. Anyway, great recipe!
Post it on your blog and I’ll send everyone over your way. :)
BTW–what is your blog?