Peach Sorbet

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

We've been on a peach kick the last few weeks because our peach tree is abundant with delicious fruit. And we've been making lots of sorbet this summer from various fresh fruits like strawberry, blueberry and now peach.

This is an easy dessert to make but takes some planning ahead time as well as freezing time depending on the ice cream maker that you have. Our ice cream maker requires freezing the canister for 24 hours ahead of time so I always keep it in the freezer just in case I want to make a frozen dessert.

First, I went outside and picked a bunch of peaches!  Then I boiled some water and dropped the peaches in for about one minute to make it easy to remove the skins. I didn't need a knife; I just peeled the skins away with my fingers.

Into a blender, I put:
6 c peaches

The peaches were blended until creamy. Then I added:
1 c sugar
4 1/2 t lemon juice
4 1/2 t vodka

No, the vodka does not affect the flavor but it does help the sorbet freeze more smoothly and without crystals forming.

The mix was blended for just 10-15 seconds, just until well mixed, and then chilled for 3-4 hours. This is a one container recipe--I blended all the ingredients in the blender and chilled it in the same container.

The peach mix was poured into the ice cream maker and 25 minutes later, a thick peach sorbet was ready. We couldn't wait: we ate some of the soft peach sorbet and then froze the remainder in a plastic container for later use.  I will be making more of this to freeze for later--I can just imagine a January night eating this sorbet and thinking of summer!

Strawberry Sorbet

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

The fresh strawberry season is waning and I've done a number of strawberry desserts: strawberry rhubarb pie, and fresh strawberries with scones are two of the favorites. But it's hot today so I decided to do something cool. The farmers market had several vendors with strawberries today so I brought home quart with sorbet in mind.

This is so easy!

To a blender, add:
1 qt, about 4 c, strawberries
1/2 c very cold water

Blend only about 30-45 seconds so that there are still chunks of fruit in the mixture.
Pour into a bowl and add:
1 c sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 T vodka--I used grapefruit vodka. The vodka is important; it adds no alcohol taste but keeps the sorbet from forming crystals as it freezes. The vodka is the key to smooth sorbet.

Chill 3-4 hours until completely cold. Pour into an ice cream maker and follow directions. My ice cream maker has a canister that is frozen before using it and the liquid is poured into the chilled container and churned by the machine. It takes about 20 minutes.

Scoop the sorbet into a freezing container, cover and freeze for 1-2 hours before serving.  Perfect!

Lemon Sorbet

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner


Wow. What a spectacular dessert. I had a taste in my mouth for lemon sorbet and I had not made this before. I picked up 4 lemons on the way home and juiced them. This gave me 1 1/4 c of lemon juice so to that I added equal parts of water and sugar.

I brought to a simmer:
1 1/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c water

While it was coming to a boil, I juiced the lemons and cut off 4 one-inch pieces of lemon zest and then zested another 1 1/4 T.  I added the one inch pieces of zest to the water/sugar mix as it was warming up. Note the proportions: 1 1/4 c water, juice, sugar and 1 1/4 T lemon zest. So if you have more or less juice, match it with these proportions.

I chilled the water/sugar/zest pieces mixture and also the freshly squeezed juice and zest. Once they were chilled, I blended them together, removing the 1" pieces, and put it into an ice cream machine. 20 minutes later, I had a thick sorbet which I put into a container and then into the freezer.

The flavor in this sorbet: spectacular! And easy, too.....

I chilled both the squeezed juice mixed with the zest.