Rae Udy

RECIPES: Strawberry Ice Dream, Lemon Sorbet, Orange Marmalade Sorbet

By Rae Udy

Sorbets are often served as a low-fat alternative to ice cream because they are made from nutritious fruits. Sorbets also are perfect for vegans because they contain no animal products and they can be made with vegan friendly sugar.
Folklore holds that the Roman Emperor Nero, invented sorbet during the first century A. D. when he had runners along the Appian way pass buckets of snow hand over hand from the mountains to his banquet hall where it was mixed with honey and wine, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbet
The Chinese have also made concoctions made from snow, juice, and fruit pulp for several thousand years. By the end of the seventeenth century, sorbet was served in the streets of Paris, and spread to the rest of Europe.
Strawberry Ice Dream, Lemon Sorbet and Orange Marmalade Sorbet are all very low in calories, about 145 in each serving. These rich desserts contain just a trace of fat and provide about 30 percent of daily requirement for vitamin C.
Don’t worry if you don’t have an ice cream maker. You can still make a creamy sorbet in your freezer by whisking your creation every now and then while its freezing.

STRAWBERRY ICE DREAM
2 quarts fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Wash and clean fresh strawberries or thaw frozen strawberries. Place a small amount of berries into blender or processor container and puree until smooth. Pour berries into a large bowl and repeat until all strawberries have been processed. Combine with sugar and allow to stand at room temperature for two hours. Add water and lemon juice. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Freeze as directed for your ice cream maker. Yields four quarts.

LEMON SORBET
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups water
1 pound sugar
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer’s directions. The finished sorbet will be rather soft. Pack it into a storage container and freeze at a temperature until firm.
Yields 1 ½ (one and one-half) quarts.

SWEET ORANGE MARMALADE SORBET
1 cup water
½ (one-half) cup sugar
¼ (one-quarter) cup orange marmalade
3/4 cup grape jelly
1 1/2 (one and one-half) cups cranberry juice cocktail
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stir together water and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add marmalade and grape jelly, stirring to blend until marmalade and jelly melt. Stir in cranberry juice cocktail. Place mixture in a nine by nine inch metal baking pan and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove pan from freezer. Using a spoon, mound mixture into the center of the pan and stir mixture briefly with a wire whisk to aerate. Return pan to freezer for another 20 minutes, then whisk again. Repeat freezing and whisking process every 20 minutes for a total of 2 1/2 (two and one-half) hours. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until serving. Yields four cups.