Enjoy the bright taste of strawberries underscored with a subtle hint of mint in this easy strawberry sorbet. Intensely red and naturally dairy-free, it's a beautiful and delicious dessert!
1pound(454grams)strawberries, fresh or frozen, quartered, about 2¾ cups, see Recipe Notes
¼cup(57grams)lemon juice, from 1 lemon
1 to 2tablespoons(1tablespoon)vodka, optional, see Recipe Notes
Instructions
Make the base: In a 3-quart medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and mint leaves. Bring the mixture to boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the mint syrup to a small bowl and chill for 30 minutes.
While the mint syrup is chilling, place the strawberries and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and purée until the mixture is smooth. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the seeds and chunks, transferring the purée to a large bowl.
When the mint syrup has cooled, stir it into the bowl with the seedless strawberry purée, straining out the mint leaves. Taste the base for sweetness, adding sugar by 1 tablespoon increments as needed. Remember, cold dulls sweetness, so make it a little sweeter than you think it should be.
Chill the base in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. It should be about 40 °F before churning.
Churn the sorbet: Pour the base into an ice cream maker and freeze per the manufacturer’s instructions. It will take about 25 to 30 minutes, and the volume of the base will increase as it freezes. When finished, the sorbet will have a soft texture.
Ripen the sorbet: Transfer the sorbet to a freezer-safe container. Stir in the vodka, if using, then smooth the top using a small offset spatula. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours to allow sorbet to firm up, a process called ripening. Serve and enjoy!
Storage instructions: Strawberry Mint Sorbet will keep in the freezer in an airtight container for a month or more.
Notes
As a guide, one 1-ounce package of mint will yield about ½ cup (15 grams) of mint leaves. For a more pronounced mint flavor, use up to 1 cup (30 grams) of fresh mint leaves or ¼ teaspoon of mint extract.Since you're creating a cold purée as it is, your fruit can be fresh or frozen, so you're not limited to seasonality when you want to make sorbet. Just know that fresh fruit that's in season generally has better flavor than frozen.The vodka is included so that the sorbet doesn't freeze into an ice-cube hard rock after being churned. The alcohol lowers the freezing temperature of water, giving this sorbet a silky smooth texture that's easier to scoop. It's a small amount, and you won't taste any alcohol, but you can leave it out if you'd rather not use it.The ice cream maker I'm using is a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Another good option is a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.