December may not seem the most obvious month to try making strawberry sorbet, at least not in the UK anyway.
Of course the refreshing palate cleanser can be enjoyed at any time of the year, but it’s something that I’m more likely to consume in the summer.
However, it was the last few days of 2024, and I still needed to do three things I’d never done before in order to reach my goal of trying 52 new things in the year.
Having never made the icy dessert before, I found a recipe and gave it a go, with some lip smacking results.
What Is Sorbet?
When I was younger, I always considered sorbet to be the posh relative of ice cream. Anyone else the same, or is that just me? I’ve no idea why I thought it was such a high brow dessert, and whilst I enjoyed how refreshing it was, I still preferred the cold and creamy iced pudding.
The biggest difference between sorbet and ice cream, is that sorbet doesn’t contain any dairy.
It’s a frozen dessert typically consisting of ice and either fruit juice of pureed fruit, usually with some added sweetener such as sugar. There are many variations and some more adult additions such as vodka, or mulled wine.
The Recipe
I found some really simple recipes on the trusty BBC Good Food site. It’s a source I regularly rely on, and it’s helped me to make some fantastic dishes, including many for when I cooked a dish from every country in the world.
With a preparation time of just 15 minutes, and a rating of ‘easy’, I looked forward to seeing how it turned out.
The Ingredients
I opted to make strawberry sorbet. It’s my go-to flavour when it comes to ice cream, so I thought I’d give it a go as a sorbet.
There were only 4 ingredients required;
- Strawberries
- Caster sugar
- Lemon juice
- Boiling water
I already had a lemon and some sugar in the kitchen, so I just needed to buy the berries.
The Process For Making Strawberry Sorbet
The method was very straightforward.
- I washed and chopped the strawberries, and then put them into a bowl with the lemon juice and sugar, and covered them with boiling water.
- Once it was cool, I blitzed it all up using a hand mixer, and then pushed the puree through a sieve.
- Putting the mixture into some shallow tubs, I placed them into the freezer to set.
- Checking on it a couple of times, whenever it looked a bit slushy, I gave it a rake over with a fork to break up the crystals and to give it the familiar snow-like texture.
I left it all to set overnight, which was probably longer than it really needed, then I served it up with a sprig of mint the next day after lunch.
The Result
I loved the way this looked. The colour was so vibrant and the texture was, pleasingly, exactly like sorbet.
The first spoonful delivered an intensely tangy burst of berry, and thankfully no brain-freeze!
Refreshingly sweet and delicious, this was a light and exhilarating fruity treat which got a big thumbs up from the other half too.
There was enough left to see us through into the first week of January too, for some nice, iced, light dessert.
Why You Should Try Making Sorbet
I am definitely going to be making sorbet again, it’s ridiculously easy to make, and delectably flavoursome. I’ll be giving the strawberry flavour a go again in the summer when the berries will be in season locally.
You can get really creative with this, and use any single fruits, or a combination, and the rich colours make for an impressive looking dessert.
There are so many variations and experimentations that can be done too. I’ll be trying some of those out for different flavours, and adding a little splash of liqueur for a more grown-up round off to a meal.
Want To Try It Yourself?
- There are lots of recipes online for making sorbet.
- To follow the same recipe that I did, take a look at the BBC Good Food site.
- Have a look for recipes that you like the look of and that you’d feel comfortable following.
Cost Of Experience
- If you needed to buy everything from scratch for this make, it would cost around £9.
- Of course this varies depending on where you shop, and whether the strawberries are in season.
- You’d have plenty of sugar left over to make lots of other delicious bakes.
Recommendations
- Be patient. You have to let the sorbet set otherwise you’ll have a runny pudding.
- Pop on an apron. Protect your clothes when you are preparing the ingredients.
- Ice cube trays. If you don’t have a suitable tub to put your sorbet into before you put it into the freezer, you could always use ice cube trays.
- Get creative. This is a recipe that is really easy to adapt and experiment with.
- Let me know how you get on. If you try making strawberry sorbet, or have a first attempt at making any other flavour of sorbet, I’d love to know how it turns out.
I used to love sorbet (but sadly can’t have it now because of the sugar), but making my own was always something I wanted to try out. It seems like quite a fun things to try out and probably. tastes so fresh!
Oh no Molly, I wonder if you can make a sugar free version?
It was fun and easy, and tasted sooooooo fresh. I’m looking forward to experimenting a bit more with it in the summer.
Thank you so much for commenting
Sally :o)