Cranberry Orange Sorbet - Christmas Dessert

When I think of sorbet, I think of these little cups of lemon sorbet that we used to eat for dessert while growing up. They were probably half a cup in size with foil tops that peeled off to reveal the icy goodness. Digging my spoon into the sorbet, I can remember the gritty/icy texture reminiscent of the sensation of shoveling snow. I would eat it by evenly scraping the top of the sorbet keeping it as smooth as possible all the way down to the bottom of the cup. The combination of the citrus, sugar and ice melting in my mouth were perfect for cooling off during the hot days of summer.

Since I got my ice cream maker, I haven't really had an interest in making sorbet. To me it just seems like frozen juice. It lacks the richness and luxuriousness of ice cream in flavor and texture. I only considered it because I made coffee ice cream with brownies (again) for dessert on Christmas eve and wanted something a little lighter after all the heavy eating we've been doing during the holidays. I figured cranberry sorbet would be perfect since cranberries are very Christmasy.  Making sorbet is a little easier than making ice cream since you don't have to worry about scrambling the custard or burning the milk. There aren't really any steps that you can totally ruin the dessert. The instructions call for boiling the base so that makes it pretty worry free. It was also funny to hear the cranberries popping (they're hollow) as they boiled. Well, they didn't really pop. It was more like bursting and hissing but it made me think of popcorn popping. Also, fresh cranberries are extremely tart. I tried one out of curiosity and my face puckered up like in the cartoons. The dried cranberries I've had aren't as tart as the fresh ones.

Everyone enjoyed the sorbet and we were able to finish it off in one night which made me happy because I try not to make another ice cream until the last one I made is all gone. The cranberry flavor stands out without being too tart. The sugar balances the tartness of the cranberry and the orange juice adds a citrus note in the background. I can count on this as a fool proof recipe that can be thrown together fairly quickly with reliable results.

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Cranberry Orange Sorbet
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients
1.5 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1.5 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (5 or 6 oranges)
1-2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau (optional, i omitted these)

Directions
1. Heat water, sugar, cranberries and orange zest until boiling. Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat and cover for 30 minutes.
2. Puree mixture in a blender or food processor and strain through a mesh.
3. Stir in orange juice and liquer.
4. Chill in refrigerator until cool and freeze in ice cream maker.