lemon basil sorbet on the back screened porch ~~~ ahhh!
Lemon. Basil. Sorbet! I think ice cream should be a food group :-). I love any variety ~~~ ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet, gelato, granita, frozen treats, bars, sundaes, splits, cones ~~~ oh my!
For easy and quick, sorbet is always a great option. There is almost always a recipe that will work with a few ingredients that you have on hand, minimal prep and a quick 25ish minutes in the Cuisinart ice cream freezer ~ so refreshing!
Wanting to try a new flavor earlier this week at Bluwatermom’s for the Labor Day holiday, I found this recipe for Lemon Basil Sorbet. These are two of my favorite summer flavors ~ lemon and basil ~ so I knew this would be good. And was it ever!
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Lemon Basil Sorbet
2 cups sugar
3 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1~2 cups packed fresh basil (depends how much basil flavor you want)
pinch of salt
3 cups fresh lemon juice
Combine the sugar, water, lemon zest in a medium sauce pan on medium/low heat to prepare a simple syrup. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat, add basil and salt. Steep for 30 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight. The basil flavor is strong when the mixture is warm, and much lighter when cold. You can remove the basil before chilling for a subtle basil flavor, or leave in overnight for stronger flavor. Good either way!
Strain the chilled mixture through a fine mesh strainer, pour into the frozen freezer mixer bowl. Turn on the mixer and the sorbet will be ready in 25 minutes. It’s soft and creamy out of the mixer and ready to eat, or you can transfer to an airtight container and freeze for an additional 1-2 hours for firmer consistency. Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.
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ice cream freezer or drink maker? which to use, which to use?
I had thoughts about pouring the mixture into the Frozen Concoction Maker instead of the ice cream freezer, and going directly to drinks. Instead, after it was finished spinning and spent a couple of extra hours in the freezer, we topped our sorbet scoops with some tequila for an adult treat! It was delicious both ways ~ plain or with a tequila floater :-).
I think this may be the perfect summer treat on the screened back porch at Bluwatermom’s. Lemon Basil Sorbet, ceiling fans, afternoon sunshine, the jasmine trellises for some shade, and the vintage wrought iron seating set from my grandmother’s back porch for relaxing. Even without any bluwater in the picture, this is pretty close to heaven for me. If there was water outside the door I would never leave.
25 minutes and it’s soft serve sorbet ~~~
This recipe will work with several different citrus and herb combinations. Pink grapefruit and spearmint ~ orange and orange mint ~ both of these are on my list to try ~ maybe with a splash of Prosecco. It is still summer until the autumnal equinox (Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 4:44 PM EDT), and as usual I am holding on to summer until it’s officially done!
I highly recommend this sorbet for porch sitting, cook-outs, sunset watching ~ or whatever floats your boat during these last weeks of summer 🙂 .
