I have mentioned before that I don’t turn my oven on in the summertime. We don’t have AC, mostly because we don’t need it here often enough to justify the expense. There is only a short time year that are truly unbearable and when those days roll around, we often opt for a nice air-conditioned restaurant for dinner. But when you are having a lot of company, and want to make a special dessert, that “no-turning-on-the-oven” thing can limit your repertoire a bit. So, when my family was here visiting, I often turned to my ice cream maker for something special. I made lemon sorbet with blueberry sauce for one dinner, because my dad has kidney problems and can’t have any dairy, but much as I love a light tangy sorbet, this sherbet is even better I think. Easy too, so lets get going on it.
Begin by heating
1 & 1/2 cup water
1 & 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
Bring that to a boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Allow to sit for 15 minutes and strain out the zest.
Juice enough lemons to make 1 cup of juice. I think it took 6, but these were really juicy ones, so get at least 8, to be sure you have enough.
Combine the lemon juice and the sugar syrup, and chill for several hours, until very cold. I cheat and put mine in the freezer, stirring every 15 minutes or so until it is cold enough.
While that is chilling, make the blueberry swirl. You will need
1 cup fresh blueberries [frozen will work when blueberries aren’t in season]
Juice and zest of 1 lime
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon water
pinch salt
Place over a low flame and cook for about 15 minutes, until the berries have all lost their shape. Raise the heat just a bit and cook until the mixture is slightly reduced and thickened. 
Force the sauce through a coarse strainer – you are mainly just creating a uniform texture and removing any large bits of skin from the berries.
Mix in 1 teaspoon vodka, and chill. 
Take the lemon mixture out and mix in
1 cup half and half
2 tablespoons vodka
The vodka isn’t for flavoring, but to regulate how hard the final product will be. Since alcohol doesn’t freeze, adding this bit of vodka keeps the texture smoother.
Turn on your ice cream maker and pour in the sherbet mixture. 
Follow your machine’s direction for how long it should go – mine took about 25 minutes to become nicely thickened
Now, you need to layer the sherbet and the blueberry sauce. You have to work quickly here, because any melting that occurs is going to make hard spots later on. It won’t take long though. Put 1/3 of the sherbet in the container, top with 1/3 of the blueberries and repeat the layers, ending with the blueberries.
Take a table knife or large spreader and run it through the layers, back and forth just a couple times to make it all really swirley. Press plastic wrap over the top surface and cover tightly. Allow the sherbet to ripen in the freezer for 3 hours at least before serving – a few hours longer is even better.
And then – you get this!
Other posts you may like:
Strawberry Rhubarb Sherbet
Blueberry Crisp
Lemon Bar Tarts
Well the sorbet to fabulous. So if this is better, we’ll be there in three hours. *tires squealing*
Oh, my that looks good.
Looks delicious , and your photos…so bright and beautiful. What a piece of artwork!
Feel free to send some of that my way. Like, GALLONS of it!
oh man….that looks so delish that I may have to buy a freezer to make it
I want this.
Now!!!!
that is really really, moaning the whole time you eating it good!
But may I address your statement :
“I often turned to my ice cream maker for something special.”
Not often enough I say. It should have been everyday cause that stuff is addicting!!!
I am working on a lite version so I cna have it more often.
I also need to replace my ice cream maker. I better get going!
Thanks all – once you start making frozen desserts, it is hard to stop. Next up is nectarine ice cream :)
Weezee – use the fake Greek style non-fat yogurt for the dairy and it will cut a bunch of calories. It will be a little icier, but you can just ake it out of the freezer a little while before you plan to serve it.
The recipe for the yogurt is here: http://dlynz.com/?p=2701
I haven’t used my ice cream maker yet this year…this may well change that! Love the photos too!
This looks so lovely and your pictures are fantastic!
This looks SOOOO good!!! I can remember the days when we had no ac at all and my Dad told us if we turned on the oven that we’d suffer! This is great!
I had no idea half and half wasn’t dairy! That’s excellent news! This looks fabulous, but I can’t believe you strained out the zest! The zest is my favorite part!
I’ll trade you my ac any time of the year for your ice cream maker! Specially if I would be able to do such lovely things like this sorbet!
Kitty – half & half is dairy actually. The main difference between sorbet and sherbet is that sherbet does have some dairy in it. Straining out the zest is purely a matter of individual preference and it can certainly be left in. I do leave it in sorbet, but in this, it kind of interferred with the smooth texture.
Welcome to all the new visitors to this post – I will be over to check out all of your blogs some time today!
Donalyn,
I made this recipe of the holiday weekend and it came out perfect. I am so glad I doubled it!
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