Summer Fruit Sherbet!

Summer Fruit Sherbets! 

Fruit-only sorbet and sherbet is so delicious.  It’s a bowl of tart sweet fruity goodness on a hot summer evening.  With a few simple ingredients, you can enjoy your favorite fruit combinations and flavors too!

Is there anything better than a tangy bowl of sherbet to snack on?  Worried about too much sugar in commercial brands?  Well, how about we make some, with fruit you have on hand? The difference in sorbets and sherbets is, sorbet is fruit only.  Sherbet has milk or milk products added for creaminess.  I added just enough milk to this recipe to make it smoother in the food processor, but the milk could very easily be substituted with more juice or an herb or blossom tea.

This is a very simple recipe, and you’d be surprised at the flavor combinations that will make it amazing.  I’ll give you a few hints so that you can have fruit sherbet ready in just a few minutes.  Whether it’s for the kids after playing in the yard, or something elegant after a weekend barbeque, you can make delicious sherbet without the muss and fuss of a large ice cream maker.  Just a little preplanning and you’re done.

My secret to being able to make sherbet quickly, on the spot, is freezing the fruit in small pieces.  You’ll want to flash freeze pieces of fruit individually and store, so its easy to grab a little of this and that.  Chopping the fruit into smaller chunks and pieces will help blend in the food processor very easily while it stays very cold.  I had a whole bunch of very ripe bananas left over, for example.  These were simply sliced up into thin small pieces, each one cut in half, and laid out on a parchment lined cookie sheet for a couple hours in the freezer.  Then I stored in a handy dandy zipper freezer bag so I’m able to just toss in a handful for my next sherbet.  Strawberries?  Oh my, yes please!  Kiwi fruit adds a little tangy citrusy flavor too.  And peach?  Mm, Southern heaven.   And combinations!  How about peach blueberry sherbet?  Or banana kiwi?

My favorite so far has been watermelon lime.  I bought a huge watermelon and had plenty left over.  So I scooped spoon sized pieces out and froze them on the cookie sheet.  The lime was just fresh squeezed this time, but I bought several large bags of limes to freeze ice cube portions of lime juice just for my sherbets.  Lime powder will work just as well, if you enjoy dehydrating your produce.

Side note:  When you need to store watermelon in the fridge, its very simple to make it convenient.  Slice the melon in half, and then simply slice down the flesh with a large knife, first across from side to side, then slice the length of the melon.  I like to slice about 1” apart, so that I have small cubes across the cut melon.  With a large sharp spoon, scoop out the delicious flesh into a zipper bag for snacking.  These cubes are great for freezing to make sherbet.  Also when slicing the watermelon, any juice left in the rind (there’s always a lot of juice when I cut a watermelon) can be frozen in an ice cube tray for additional treats, juice, or sherbet.

This recipe calls for about a quart of fruit.  But you can make half that much, or double the recipe very easily to suit your needs.  So buy fruit on sale, overripe fruit at a great price, and freeze for sherbet!!

Watermelon Lime Sherbet

1 quart of small watermelon pieces, frozen
Juice of 2 limes
½ cup orange juice
½ cup milk
¼ cup powdered sugar
Additional frozen watermelon juice

Options:  1 teaspoon vanilla, a few teaspoons chia seed, fruit powder for combination flavors

In the food processor, add most of the frozen fruit pieces.  Add the juice and milk, and the juice ice cubes one at a time.  This liquid is just to make the sherbet smoother and to allow the frozen fruit to process easier.  You may need a slight amount more if your fruit is frozen really hard.  Very firm fruit may need to be chopped smaller than watermelon would.  Process until most of the chunks are blended, just a minute or two.  Sprinkle in the sugar to taste, and process a few seconds to blend.

Spoon the frozen ‘slush’ into a storage bowl with lid, and allow to freeze for 30 minutes or until firm.  This sherbet can also be served immediately as well.  Spoon into serving bowls, and garnish with a handful of chia, some berries, or coconut.  Enjoy!