Raspberry Sorbet

For my mother's birthday this year I combined a few of her favorite ingredients into a fabulous dessert: coffee cocoa cake with a homemade raspberry sorbet.

Sorbets are incredibly easy to make if you own an ice cream maker, though high in sugar. All natural fresh fruit is a plus if you can just ignore the pounds of sugar going into it!

Here's what you need:

2 cups water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 cups frozen raspberries, thawed

Prepare a simple syrup with the water and sugar by combining both in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook mixture until sugar is fully dissolved.
Once the syrup is ready, add salt and raspberries. Blend mixture until smooth. The tricky part is straining out the seeds. It took me a lot longer because I was using such a tiny mesh strainer. You can use a spatula to help press the mixture through. Discard seeds.



Cover and chill in refrigerator for 4 hours or over night.
Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions. Mine only takes 15 or so minutes.
Freeze until firm, then enjoy!


(Makes 5 cups. A 1/2 cup serving contains 140 calories and 2 grams fiber.)

Pineapple-Mint Sorbet

I got an ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet maker for Christmas this year (thanks mom!) My first concoction was a pineapple-mint sorbet to ring in the new year. And oh my god is this sorbet amazing. It tastes like pure pineapple bliss. I probably could have added more mint, but it is so good nonetheless, and quite easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/2 a fresh pineapple, peeled and cored (500 mL purée)
8 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup champagne
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Prepare pineapple and place in blender with sugar. Puree until no chunks remain. Add water and champagne, pulse to combine. Add mint and pulse again. Chill the mixture thoroughly, at least 3 hours. I chilled it overnight.
Once chilled, pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions. Mine took 10 minutes to become sorbet. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.


I had a few people over for New Year's Eve and served my guests a glass of champagne with a scoop of the sorbet in it. So fancy and quite the crowd pleaser.