Strawberry sorbet

A no-cook summer classic made from fresh strawberries — it tastes like strawberries straight from the garden.

Cooking robs strawberries of their fresh aroma, so here they are simply sprinkled with sugar and left to release their juice. The sugar dissolves in it and all you have to do is blend everything. A squeeze of lemon brightens the flavour. Ripe, in-season strawberries are best — greenhouse ones tend to be watery and need more sugar.

Type: Sorbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 650 g strawberries (hulled)
  • 200 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 40 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 100 g water
  • 30 g lemon juice (fresh)

Making the mix

  1. Wash the strawberries, remove the stalks and cut them into quarters.
  2. Sprinkle with the sugar and dextrose, stir and leave for 30–60 minutes to release their juice.
  3. Blend the strawberries and their juice with the water and lemon juice until you can no longer feel any sugar crystals.
  4. If the seeds bother you, press the purée through a sieve. Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch the ice cream maker on 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Pour in the chilled mix (no higher than the fill line) and churn for 25–35 minutes until the sorbet is thick, glossy and holds its shape on a spoon.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 1–2 hours.

Total time: 4 h 30 min

Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker

  1. Take the frozen bowl out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
  2. With the machine running, pour in the well-chilled mix — no more than two thirds of the bowl; freeze the rest in a second batch.
  3. Churn for 20–25 minutes until the sorbet thickens into a dense ice slush. Churning longer is pointless — the bowl has already warmed up.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 3 hours.

Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours ahead. The mix must be fridge-cold (5 °C or below) — a lukewarm mix warms the bowl before the sorbet can set.

Total time: 5 h 25 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Pour the chilled mix into the CREAMi tub up to the MAX line (any extra into a second tub), put the lid on and freeze level for 24 hours.
  2. Put the tub in the machine and run the Sorbet program.
  3. If the sorbet is crumbly or powdery, add 1–2 tablespoons of water or juice and run Re-spin. Serve straight away.

Programme: Sorbet

The CREAMi doesn’t stir the mix while it freezes; instead, its blade finely shaves the frozen block. It therefore copes with a less sweet mix too — this version has about a third less added sugar (around 20–23 °Bx, below the usual sorbet range). Straight from the freezer it is rock hard, so re-process it (Re-spin) before serving.

Total time: 26 h 5 min

Method — No-machine method

  1. Pour the chilled mix into a shallow metal or glass container (3–4 cm deep) and put it in the freezer.
  2. After an hour, stir the mix thoroughly with a fork or a stick blender — work the frozen edges into the centre.
  3. Repeat every 30–45 minutes, 5–6 times in total, until the sorbet is thick and smooth.
  4. Finally, you can briefly whizz it in a food processor for an even smoother result. Leave to harden for an hour.

Without a machine, larger ice crystals grow and the sorbet is coarser. Each stir breaks them up — don’t skip any.

Total time: 7 h

Stages

Preparation
15 min
Resting
45 min
Cooling
1 h
Churning
30 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
4 h 30 min

Serving and storage

Serve with fresh strawberries, basil or mint leaves, or a dollop of whipped cream.

Best within 1–2 weeks, kept in a closed container with cling film on the surface. After that the fruit flavour fades and the sorbet turns coarse. Do not refreeze once thawed.

Tips

  • Fruit is sometimes sweeter, sometimes more tart. Taste the mix before freezing — it should be a little sweeter than seems right, as the cold dulls sweetness. A refractometer measures it precisely (target 26–30 °Bx); if it is below 25, add sugar a tablespoon at a time.
  • A drop of balsamic vinegar or a pinch of black pepper brings out the strawberry flavour.
  • Out of season, use frozen strawberries — let them thaw in their juice and carry on the same way.
  • The egg test — a home sugar check without a refractometer: carefully lower a thoroughly washed and dried egg, still in its shell, into the chilled mix. If it sinks to the bottom, there is too little sugar. If a circle about 2 cm across (roughly the size of a 10-cent euro coin) shows above the surface, the ratio is about right. A larger circle means too much sugar — add water or juice. Then take the egg out. The test is only a rough guide (older eggs float more easily).

Why it works

Strawberries are about 90 % water and only 5 % sugars, so they need quite a lot of added sugar in a sorbet. Part of it is replaced by dextrose: it lowers the freezing point more than granulated sugar, so the sorbet is softer straight from the freezer without being too sweet.

Sources