Incredibly light and refreshing, this strawberry sorbet is bursting with pure strawberry flavor and is really easy to make! The fresh strawberries are simply pureed and sweetened with sugar. Lemon juice and a pinch of salt are added to make the flavors pop! No need to prepare a syrup and you can easily make the sorbet without an ice cream machine!
What Is A Sorbet?
A sorbet (sor-bay), also known as ices or water ices, is traditionally composed of fruit (or vegetable) juice or puree, a syrup (water and sugar) and an acid. Unlike sherbets, sorbets do not contain any milk products. Some recipes might include pasteurized egg whites to make the sorbet lighter and smoother. The fruit flavor won’t be as intense if eggs are added to the mixture.
Making Strawberry Sorbet, Step-by-Step
Prepare the strawberry sorbet
- Place a large baking pan in the freezer. I used a 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 inches) pan.
- Wash the strawberries and place them in a colander to get rid of the water. It’s best to do this step a few hours before making the sorbet to ensure that the strawberries are completely dry. Alternatively, you can use a paper towel to dry the strawberries.
Strawberries already contain about 91% water. Adding more water to the sorbet could cause larger ice crystals to form, leading to an icy sorbet. The strawberry flavor will also be more intense when it’s not diluted in additional water.
- Hull the strawberries then cut them in half and puree them using a blender or food processor.
- Strain the strawberry puree (if desired) through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
- Add the sugar, lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine then let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Taste the mixture and add more sugar or lemon juice if needed.
- Pour the strawberry mixture into the frozen baking pan. Cover and freeze for about an hour.
Mix the strawberry sorbet
- Take the strawberry sorbet out of the freezer and break up the ice crystals formed. You can use a spatula, a whisk, a hand mixer etc. If you are worried about scratching the baking pan, transfer the sorbet to a mixing bowl. Mix then return to the baking pan and freeze.
- Repeat the process every hour, 2 to 3 more times. The more you do this, the smoother the sorbet will be.
- Once you are done mixing (after 3-4 hours), transfer the sorbet to a smaller container. Smoothen the surface with a spoon and freeze until completely firm.
And that’s it! So easy to make and no need to turn on the stove when it’s already hot and you really need something refreshing!
You Might Also Like
- Lemon sherbet
- Chocolate ice cream
- Fraisier with mousseline cream
- Strawberry charlotte cake
- Strawberry tart
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Strawberry Sorbet (without an ice cream machine)
3
servings25
minutes4
hoursIncredibly light and refreshing, this strawberry sorbet recipe by Pierre Hermé is bursting with pure strawberry flavor and is really easy to make! No need to prepare a syrup and you can easily make the sorbet without an ice cream machine!
Ingredients
500 g (1.1 lbs.) fresh strawberries
80 g (2.8 oz.) granulated sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoons (9 g, 0.32 oz.) lemon juice, or to taste
pinch of salt
Directions
- Place a large baking pan in the freezer. I used a 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 inches) pan.
- Wash the strawberries and place them in a colander to get rid of the water. It’s best to do this step a few hours before making the sorbet to ensure that the strawberries are completely dry. Alternatively, you can use a paper towel to dry the strawberries.
- Hull the strawberries then cut them in half and puree them using a blender or food processor. Strain the strawberry puree (if desired) through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
- Add the sugar, lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine then let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Taste the mixture and add more sugar or lemon juice if needed.
- Pour the strawberry mixture into the frozen baking pan. Cover and freeze for about an hour.
- Take the strawberry sorbet out of the freezer and break up the ice crystals formed. You can use a spatula, a whisk, a hand mixer etc. If you are worried about scratching the baking pan, transfer the sorbet to a mixing bowl. Mix then return to the baking pan and freeze.
- Repeat the process every hour, 2 to 3 more times. The more you do this, the smoother the sorbet will be. See notes if you only want to mix once. Once you are done mixing (after 3-4 hours), serve immediately if desired. Or transfer the sorbet to a smaller container. Smoothen the surface with a spoon and freeze until completely firm. Let the sorbet stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Make-ahead tips: Homemade strawberry sorbet will keep in the freezer for several days.
- Mixing the sorbet once: If you do not want to repeat the process of breaking up ice crystals every hour, prepare the strawberry mixture. Freeze for 3-4 hours or until completely frozen. Remove from the freezer and let it warm up at room temperature for a few minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Return to the pan and freeze until completely firm.
- Sweetness of the strawberries: It’s best to taste the strawberries before making the sorbet. If your strawberries are very sweet, you’ll probably need less sugar.
- Using an ice cream machine: Prepare the strawberry mixture (steps 2-4) then refrigerate until completely chilled. Pour into the frozen ice cream bowl and churn. Once it’s ready, transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until completely firm.
- Adapted from Pierre Hermé’s recipe, found on Empreinte Sucrée.
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This turned out to be superb! Thank you for an easy, outstanding recipe that doesn’t require special equipment. I wasn’t sure if it was 500 gram of berries before or after hulling, so I used 500 g of hulled berries. My berries were somewhat tart, so I used 1 tsp of fresh lime juice, rather than lemon juice, because that’s what I had on hand. Perfect! My first attempt at sorbet was a smash.
Hey Barbara! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you very much for letting me know and for your kind words!
I’ve never seen this idea of using a blender directly un the pan with the partially frozen sorbet before. Do you think an immersion blender would work for this, or would it be too high-powered?
I love the sound of this recipe and can’t wait to try it! Many sorbet recipes use far too much sugar for my liking. But 80g of sugar is a little under 1/4 cup, not at all an unreasonable amount for over a pound of strawberries!
You could definitely use an immersion blender to mix the strawberries and later break up the frozen chunks. I would recommend however transferring the partially frozen sorbet to a narrow container first, before using the immersion blender. If you are freezing the sorbet in a large shallow baking pan, you might find it difficult to mix directly into the pan since the layer of sorbet will be quite thin. If you do decide to mix straight into the pan, make sure you are NOT using a non-stick pan or glass pan and avoid touching the edges of the pan with the immersion blender.
I’m really happy you’re excited to try the recipe! Generally, I would think that 80 g is a little more than 1/3 cup. You could use less of course depending on your preferences and how sweet your strawberries are.
Hope you’ll enjoy the sorbet!