Have Blender, Will Travel

As the weather heats up and the humidity leaves me with a weeks' worth of bad hair days, I'm making more frozen desserts.  Ice creams generally require sticking to a recipe, but for sorbets?  A simple ratio can give you the freedom to exercise those creative muscles. 

Simple Syrup

2 C sugar

2 C Water

Bring to a boil in a large sauce pan, stir as needed to dissolve the sugar.  Cool to room temperature.

Add in 2 C of your favorite fruit puree and freeze according to the instructions on your handy dandy ice cream freezer.  But, the question is, what kind of fruit puree?  Oh, so many options!

Sure, you can stick to the basics, strained raspberries, mango, banana (as creamy as ice cream!), but summer's bounty leaves me wanting a bit more.

Strawberry Basil Sorbet

Puree 2 qts of fresh strawberries in a blender or food processor.  Add in 5 basil leaves and puree again.  Strain to remove seeds and proceed with the recipe above.

Red Wine Blackberry Sorbet

Reduce 1 C of a medium bodied red wine to 1/2 C in a sauce pan.  Feel free to use an inexpensive blend wine - Luna di Luna works well for this.  Add in 4 C of blackberries and allow the berries to mascerate for 1-2 hours.  Puree, strain, and make sorbet.

Repeat with peaches and riesling!

One thing to keep in mind: Most sorbets are healthier than ice creams.  The rule breaker?  Coconut!  One serving of coconut milk has 47% of the daily recommended amount of saturated fat.  Coconut milk does make an amazingly creamy sorbet, but if you're counting calories, augment your bowl with some fresh fruit or a few scoops of pineapple sorbet.