Ten Quick Smart Things To Do With Strawberries: Day Two

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Make sorbet without an ice cream machine? No cooking either? You can prep this sweet and refreshing dessert in fewer minutes (not counting freezing time) than it would take you to go out and buy it. It’s also a perfect way to use those delicious leftover berries that no longer look party fresh. Preserves instead of sugar syrup contribute a smooth texture and complex flavor. Serve the sorbet plain or with a little whipped cream or a dab of crème fraîche right from the carton. Oh, and yes, you can skip the balsamic vinegar; just replace it with water. That’s it.

 
FURIOUSLY FAST STRAWBERRY (BALSAMIC) SORBET
Makes almost 3 cups
 
Ingredients
1 pound (4 cups) ripe, flavorful strawberries
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons strawberry (or raspberry) preserves

Pinch of salt

A small lemon

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, or to taste

¼ cup water

Equipment

Food processor or blender

Rinse and hull the berries and put them in the food processor or blender with ½ cup of the preserves and the salt. Finely grate zest from half of the lemon into the processor bowl. Puree until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and water and pulse to mix. Taste and add the remaining jam as necessary for sweetness and adjust the lemon juice, vinegar, and salt if necessary. The puree should taste a bit sweeter than you think it should and have a little zip to it.

 

 
Scrape the mixture into a shallow pan, cover, and freeze until hard, 3 to 4 hours.
 

                                        

Break the frozen mixture into chunks with a fork and process in the food processor or blender until there are no more frozen pieces to process, stopping to redistribute the mixture from time to time, until it is smooth and creamy and lightened in color. 

 

 
 

It may be frozen enough to serve right out of the food processor, or you can scrape it into a container and return it to the freezer until needed. If the sorbet freezes too hard, let it soften in the fridge for about 15 minutes, or carefully soften it in the microwave on the defrost setting, a few seconds at a time.
 
 
For more ideas for strawberries, see my new book, Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts(Artisan 2012) by Alice Medrich, page 48.

 

5 replies
  2. anno
    anno says:

    This was delicious! Even my daughter who won't eat fruit in any shape or form loved this. Thanks for the wonderful recipe, and thanks for posting this series — we are all enjoying this a lot.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    Why don't you freeze the strawberries first and then whiz them in the food processor? I've heard of this working really well for bananas, and you could save yourself a couple of steps.

    Reply
    • Alice Medrich
      Alice Medrich says:

      Great idea about starting with frozen strawberries, but when I tried that (a while back) neither the flavor nor the texture was as creamy or blended as it was with the extra step. I know it doesn’t make sense, but that was my experience. I may have to test again to be sure!

      Reply

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