15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (2024)

Sorbet is an ideal treat for a hot day, and the perfect reason to break out that ice cream maker. From fruit-forward sorbets to a spiced chocolate flavor and a boozy lemonade, these are our best recipes for making your own sorbet as well as using it as a component in layered desserts.

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Sour-Cherry Lambic Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (1)

"Above all, sorbet should taste — and feel — almost like eating fresh fruit," says ice cream maven Jeni Britton. This recipe incorporates both pitted sour cherries and cherry lambic beer for deep fruit flavor.

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Strawberries and Cream Gelato Cake

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (2)

As stunning as it is delicious, this creamy strawberry and sour cream gelato cake from Il Laboratorio del Gelato owner Jon Snyder is the perfect centerpiece for summer celebrations. Make your own strawberry sorbet for the vibrant red layers with the recipe here or use store-bought.

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Mexican Chocolate Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (3)

Mexican cinnamon and vanilla complement the heat of guajillo and chipotle chiles for this sorbet version of Mexican hot chocolate.

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Boozy Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Famed pastry chef Claudia Fleming's Boozy Frozen Strawberry Lemonade is sweet, zippy, and irresistibly delicious — exactly the kind of drink you want on a hot summer afternoon. The frozen co*cktail is made with lemon vodka, Prosecco, basil, limoncello, strawberries, and lemon sorbet and can double as a dessert.

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Tropical Jackfruit–Ginger Ale Sorbet with Charred Pineapple

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (5)

Chef Sam Fore of the pop up Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites in Lexington, Kentucky, created this summer fruit dessert recipe for an icy, quenching sorbet of jackfruit, pineapple, and ginger ale.

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Chocolate-Raspberry Icebox Cake

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (6)

This Chocolate-Raspberry Icebox Cake is creamy, it's dreamy, and it's so simple to make. Crushed cookies, fresh raspberries, and layers of tart raspberry sorbet and velvety vanilla ice cream transform into a gorgeous marbled layer cake in about 15 minutes — no frosting required.

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Lemon and Fresh Sorrel Sherbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (7)

Pastry chef Belinda Leong started to incorporate wild greens and herbs into her desserts during a foraging-focused internship in Copenhagen. When sorrel's in season, she uses the tart, lemony green to flavor her tangy sherbet; mint, thyme, and basil are also terrific choices.

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Raspberry-Hibiscus Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (8)

This sorbet by chef and ice cream maker Fany Gerson has a creamy texture thanks to the addition of corn syrup or honey, which increases the sugar content and helps make the final product richer, less icy, and more scoopable. Bright and airy, with the perfect sweet-tart balance from the raspberries and just the right amount of a floral hit from the hibiscus, this is a super-refreshing summertime treat.

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Rio-Style Ginger Beer Floats

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (9)

Chef Eric Ripert's sweet, fizzy drink, made with orange juice, passion fruit, and mango sorbet, is his Brazilian take on a typical American root beer float.

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Lemon-Rosemary Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (10)

Making this bright and herbaceous sorbet is simple. First, you cook a simple syrup with rosemary sprigs. Then you add that to fresh lemon juice, chill it, and mix it in an ice cream maker. Voilà!

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Strawberry, Lemon, and Vanilla Ice Cream Parfait

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (11)

Fresh strawberry sauce and refreshing lemon sorbet make these giant sundaes a delightful early summer treat.

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Mango-Basil Vacherin

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (12)

Yigit Pura perfected this crisp-creamy French dessert while working at restaurant Daniel in New York City. His updated version combines little lime meringue kisses with basil ice cream and sweet mango sorbet.

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Melon Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (13)

Jeni Britton's easy sugar syrup can be mixed with almost any fruit puree and churned in an ice cream maker to make sorbet. During the summer, she loves sorbets made with locally grown heirloom melons and ruby-red sour cherries.

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Pineapple Carpaccio with Lemon Sorbet and Candied Zest

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (14)

Here's a refreshing dessert that looks and tastes spectacular. If you can find one, try a pineapple labeled gold; relatively new to the market, this hybrid is always lusciously sweet.

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Tomato Sorbet

15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (15)

Chef Andrew Zimmern makes this recipe all summer long with everything from orange sunburst cherry tomatoes to Valencias to German Striped. He says the bigger the acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes, the better.

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15 Sensational Sorbet Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade sorbet so hard? ›

If your sorbet is rock-hard after churning and freezing: Allow it to sit on the counter for 5 minutes to soften before scooping OR. Melt the base back down to liquid, add more sugar, or a bit of corn syrup, or a splash of alcohol, then re-churn and refreeze.

What are the secrets of sorbet? ›

According to Serious Eats, the optimal sugar concentration for sorbet is 20-30%. Sugar dissolved in water lowers the freezing point of the mixture. The sweet spot of sorbet is all about adding enough sugar to prevent it from freezing solid, while not adding so much sugar that it won't solidify at all.

What is the most popular flavor of sorbet? ›

The tastiest sorbet is subjective, but popular flavors include lemon, mango, raspberry, strawberry, and passion fruit.

What's the difference between sherbet and sorbet? ›

The major difference between the two is that sherbet is made with dairy and sorbet isn't. Sherbet has more of a creamy texture that you'd expect from ice cream thanks to ingredients like milk, heavy cream, or buttermilk in the mix. Sorbet, on the other hand, is simply sugar and fruit.

What makes sorbet so creamy? ›

The fruit puree provides natural sweetness and contributes to the creamy texture when frozen. Churning Process: During the churning process of making sorbet, the air is incorporated into the mixture, creating a light and airy texture. This aeration helps give sorbet its smooth and creamy mouthfeel.

Why put egg white in sorbet? ›

If you want a fluffier sorbet, you can add two egg whites, whipped to form stiff peaks, when the mixture begins to solidify.

What thickens sorbet? ›

Tapioca starch (or corn starch): tapioca starch fis our go-to starch to thicken a sorbet mixture, for the velvety texture it creates. If you do not have tapioca starch, you can use corn starch instead, which is not the same, but it still works.

How do you keep homemade sorbet from freezing solid? ›

Alcohol doesn't freeze, so it helps prevent sorbet from freezing solid. A little bit goes a long way. 1 to 3 Tablespoons per quart of sorbet is a good rule of thumb. If too much alcohol is added the sorbet will stay mushy.

What makes sorbet icy? ›

Too little sugar and the sorbet becomes icy, too much and it can be slushy — hit the sugar level just right and the sorbet will taste creamy and melt evenly across your tongue.

What is the most expensive sorbet? ›

The ice cream, called “Byakuya,” is a combination of white truffles imported from Alba, Italy; Parmigiano Reggiano cheese; and sake lees, a byproduct of the sake production process. The resulting frozen dessert costs an absolutely eye-watering ¥873,400 ($6,696) for a single 130 mL (4.4 ounce) serving.

What is sorbet called in America? ›

Sherbet in Europe still refers to a type of flavored drink, while North American sherbet is similar to sorbet. August Escoffier describes sorbet as "very light and barely-congealed ices, served after the Entrées.

What is the best canned fruit for sorbet? ›

Enjoy the sorbet as is, or let it firm up in the freezer before digging in. As for which canned fruit works best, any fruit — such as peaches, pears, apricots, mangos, or cherries — can be used.

Is sorbet healthier then ice cream? ›

Sorbet has less calories than ice cream and other frozen desserts, and no fat. It's fruit content also makes it rich in vitamin C. Any downsides? That fruit content also means it contains a fair bit of sugar, and if we're comparing it with ice cream and gelato, it has less calcium, vitamin A and iron.

Is Sorbetto the same as sorbet? ›

Sorbetto is also called sorbet. Unlike like gelato, sorbetto is always a dairy and egg free frozen treat. It is, therefore, the lowest fat content of the three treats. Sorbetto is made with sweetened juice, fruit puree, or water and it is denser than gelato.

Is gelato or sorbet healthier? ›

Frequently Asked Questions. Which of the following is a healthier option: sorbet or gelato? Gelato contains more calories and fat thanks to the use of milk. Because sorbet is just fruit juice and sugar (no dairy), it has less calories and is therefore a healthier option.

How do you make sorbet less hard? ›

1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur (this is for flavor, but it also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid. Alcohol won't freeze, so it is great insurance that you will have a soft sorbet. BUT, if you add too much sorbet won't freeze at all and you will basically have a margarita or daiquiri!)

How do you make sorbet stay soft? ›

Alcohol doesn't freeze, so it helps prevent sorbet from freezing solid. A little bit goes a long way. 1 to 3 Tablespoons per quart of sorbet is a good rule of thumb. If too much alcohol is added the sorbet will stay mushy.

How do you make sorbet more scoopable? ›

A sugar concentration between 20% to 30% will generally produce a scoopable, creamy sorbet. * Add less and your sorbet is too icy to scoop; add more and it may never freeze.

Why is my sorbet frozen solid? ›

If you add more sugar it will help keep it less rock hard. However it will make it sweeter so it's a tricky balance. We add sugar to some of our sorbets that freeze too hard and get icy.

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