Homemade Sorbet

Throughout most of my pregnancy I experienced major fruit cravings. I couldn't get enough pineapple or strawberries, and I thoroughly enjoyed peaches, grapes, grapefruit, everything berry and pears as well. As yummy as fruit is, I eventually tired of eating straight up fruit and looked for other ways to quell my cravings. I then discovered the world of fruit smoothies, and for months I enjoyed experimenting with different ingredient combinations. But I soon tired of smoothies, and while looking for a use for the plethora of basil we've grown this summer, I discovered homemade sorbet. What a lovely and delicious way to beat the heat!

If you've never made homemade sorbet before, I highly recommend it. Most recipes call for the use of an ice cream maker, but I had no problems making mine without one. Because we wanted to use up our fresh basil, I selected sorbet recipes containing basil, which may be a bit off-putting at first (it was for me!), but you'd be surprised at how tasty and refreshing the basil is in these recipes!

Strawberry Basil Sorbet

recipe found and adapted from two peas & their pod

1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh basil, finely minced

1 tsp. lemon juice

• In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar. Cover and set aside for at least an hour, stirring if needed.
• In a blender, puree the strawberries, their liquid, the basil and the lemon juice until smooth.
• Pour into a freezer safe container, cover and freeze for at least 4 hours.
• Remove sorbet from freezer and allow to soften for 5-10 minutes. 
• Return sorbet to blender and puree until smooth.
• Pour puree into individual serving dishes.
• Return to freezer until ready to serve.

Of course, you can adjust these directions as you see fit, but based on the success I had with this approach with my next sorbet recipe, I chose to repeat it again with the strawberry basil sorbet. The second puree step may not be necessary, but seeing as this was the first time I used this recipe, I wasn't sure if my sorbet would separate during the first freezing as it did with the following recipe. Note: The strawberry sorbet didn't separate but I wanted to put it in individual bowls so I proceeded with the second puree anyway.

Basil-Lime Sorbet

recipe found and adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 6-7 limes)

20 fresh basil leaves, finely minced

• Make a simple syrup by combining the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil; allow to boil for 1 minute; remove from heat.
• Add the syrup, lime juice and basil to a blender and puree until smooth.
• Pour puree into a freezer safe container and freeze for 4 hours or until thoroughly frozen.
• Remove frozen puree from freezer, break into chunks, return to blender, puree until smooth and thoroughly mixed (ingredients will separate during initial freezing).
• Pour puree into individual bowls, cover, and return to freezer until ready to serve.

Alternative: The second time I made this sorbet, I used lemons in addition to the limes because I didn't have enough limes on hand. I used 2 lemons and 3 limes to get 3/4 cup juice, but you may need more depending on the size of your fruit. I imagine this would be just as delicious using only lemons.

I can't tell you how psyched I am to discover that making sorbet is so easy. I can only imagine that the flavor combinations are endless. What's your favorite flavor of sorbet?

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