(Photo: Food Network)
Sweet, icy sorbets are a classic summertime treat. They're like the more adult version of shaved ice. Today we'll be making even more adult versions of sorbets. These alcoholic desserts are a great post-dinner cocktail for a hot day, and can be stored in the freezer for a while.
Tips
Sorbets are remarkably easy to make, but there are some tricks to these. Some recipes call for us to just blend, then freeze the ingredients. We noticed the sorbet can get a bit hard if we do that, so we poured the ingredients onto a walled cookie tray and initially freezed it that way. Then we broke up the ice into chunks, put them back in the blender, and repeated another time before finally storing the sorbet in the final airtight container. This resulted in a much smoother consistency.
Recipes
Cosmopolitan Sorbet
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 5 1/3 cups cranberries
- 1/4 cup vodka
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tbsps cointreau (orange liqueur)
Bring water and sugar to boil in a large saucepan. Make sure to stir constantly until the sugar is well dissolved. Add cranberries and allow to simmer uncovered until cranberries have collapsed. This should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Pour through a mesh seive into a bowl, using a rubber spatula to press out as much liquid from the seive as possible. Cool the liquid in the fridge for an hour.
After an hour, stir in the vodka, lime juice, and cointreau, then mix well in a blender. Pour the syrup into a walled cookie sheet and freeze. Once it's frozen, break the ice into chunks, blend well in the blender again, and pour back into the cookie sheet. Refreeze, then blend one last time. After the last time blending, pour into an airtight container and store in the freezer until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Strawberry-Sambuca Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 lb strawberries
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsps sambuca
Bring water and sugar to a boil in a large sauce, stirring so sugar completely dissolves. Puree lemon juice and strawberries in a blender until smooth, then press through a fine, mesh seive over the sugar and water mixture to remove seeds. Add the sambuca and stir to mix well.
Pour the syrup into a bowl and chill for at least one hour. After an hour, add the mixture to a blender and follow the second paragraph of the Cosmopolitan Sorbet directions above.
Enjoy!
Mai Tai Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup peach-passion fruit nectar
- 1/2 cup guava nectar
- 6 tbsps dark rum
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tsps grenadine
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Combine all the incredients into a metal bowl until the sugar dissolves.
Follow instructions starting at paragraph 2 from Cosmopolitan sorbet.
Enjoy!
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