“With just 2 essential ingredients, strawberries and sugar, you can make this incredibly luscious and simple homemade sorbet to celebrate the strawberry harvest.”
Homemade strawberry sorbet is easier to make than you might think. With strawberries at the height of their season right now, you’re sure to find them in abundance at the farm markets and in the local produce section of your supermarket. Ripe strawberries are the ones you’ll want to use – the ones that are deep, dark red and heavy with juice. The more ripe the strawberry, the more flavor the sorbet.
Use Ripe Strawberries for Best Results
If you’re fortunate to live near a strawberry field, take the opportunity to hand-pick ripe strawberries yourself. You’ll want to seek out the dark ruby red ones. If they’re light pink or green, leave them be, they’re not ready yet.
There’s something to be said for harvesting ripe strawberries with your own hands, under the elements of warm wind and sun – I think the experience counts just as much as the ingredients.
Ratios Matter
The ratio here matters. We will use 4 cups of strawberry puree and 1 cup sugar. Too much sugar and the sorbet will be mushy. Not enough sugar and the contents may be too hard to scoop. I don’t use simple syrup here (equal parts sugar and water melted together) because adding water to already juicy strawberries, essentially watering them down, defeats the purpose of using strawberries at their peak, in my opinion.
Water also freezes and will add an element to the sorbet that will make it difficult to scoop. Sugar won’t freeze, so it will keep the sorbet manageable. That doesn’t mean the sorbet won’t freeze, it will. However, will be easier to scoop and will retain a velvety consistency.
The addition of lemon juice is merely to keep the berries bright and add a subtle tang, and a pinch of salt to enhance all the flavor.
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Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
- Ice Cream Maker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ripe strawberries, rinsed and hulled very ripe strawberries will produce the best flavor
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice Typically from one large lemon
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Add the hulled strawberries to a food processor and puree until smooth. Take note of the measurement of the strawberries after they've been pureed as you will want to have 4 cups (a food processor or blender will likely have measurement markers on the side). Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (add more later if desired)* and salt. Whirl through the processor until well incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Using a sieve or strainer, strain the puree into a large bowl. Some seeds will get through, but most won't, gently stir the puree through the strainer to help it along taking care to not push the seeds through. Taste and stir in more more lemon juice if desired. Chill well in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Allowing the mixture to get very cold before adding it to the ice cream maker will yield the right temperature to begin a proper churn and to keep the final texture scoop-able.
- Remove the cold puree from the refrigerator, give the contents a gentle stir and churn according to the ice cream maker's directions, usually about 18-20 minutes. Scoop the sorbet into a freezer safe container and allow it to set for at least 2 hours or longer.
- When ready to serve, check the consistency and allow the container to sit out for 10 minutes or so to make it easier to scoop, if necessary.
Notes
© chasingtheseasons. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my photography without prior written permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.
