Cherry Sorbet
Sorbet is a sugar problem. Too little and it freezes into a solid slab no spoon will touch; too much and it never freezes at all. The working ratio is simple: about 200 g of sugar per kilo of fruit purée. The spoon of lemon juice and the pinch of salt are not for flavour — they make the cherry taste more like itself.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Rest
- 8 h
- Total
- 8 h 20 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 150 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: about 800 ml, 6 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Make the syrup
Warm the water and sugar until fully dissolved, 3–4 minutes, and cool completely. Undissolved sugar shows up later as grit.
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Step 2: Purée the cherries
Blend them smooth. Thaw frozen cherries first, juice and all — half the flavour is in that juice.
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Step 3: Sieve it
Push the purée through a sieve to remove the skins. Without this the sorbet feels rough on the tongue.
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Step 4: Combine and taste
Mix the purée with the cooled syrup, lemon juice and salt. It should taste slightly too sweet: frozen, sweetness reads weaker.
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Step 5: Freeze
Churn 20–25 minutes, or freeze in a container beating with a fork every 40 minutes, four times. A spoon of vodka keeps it softer.
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Step 6: Firm up
Transfer to a container and freeze 4 hours. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving — sorbet sets harder than dairy ice cream.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The old test without a hydrometer: a raw egg floated in the syrup should show a circle of shell the size of a coin. A confectioner's trick that still works.
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Tip
Alcohol does not freeze, so a spoon of vodka or cherry liqueur keeps sorbet scoopable. More than two spoons and it will not freeze at all.
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Variation
Cherry and basil: steep a bunch in the hot syrup and strain. With 200 g of blackcurrants it turns darker and sharper.
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Storage
Three weeks in the freezer. If it goes icy, blitz it again and refreeze — that rescues the texture completely.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 150 kcal | 900 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 6 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 38 g | 228 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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