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Peach Berry Sherbet

August 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments

I had been suffering a serious case of foodblogger envy watching others whip up homemade ice cream treats this summer, so finally broke down and bought the KitchenAid ice cream attachment. I’ve gushed before about the wonderful local ice cream/custard/gelato treats we have available, but I’ve been wanting to experiment with healthier variations. Since the toddler seems to have inherited my family’s ice cream addiction — seriously, he woke up one morning recently requesting, “i skeem? i skeem?” — I wanted to try out some low sugar options. Using the sweet, ripe fruits at market right now makes that easier as they don’t require much added sweetener. For my first attempt, I decided to try a sherbet – the full fruit flavor of gelato, but with 2% milk instead of eggs. So it’s low fat too! I used honey under the theory that it requires less to match the sweetness of regular sugar, and was pleased that this turned out pleasantly sweet even with the tart blackberries. I was worried that the berries might overpower the peach flavor, but it turned out wonderfully balanced. It’s not as creamy as ice cream, but still a luscious summer treat.

Recipe: Peach Berry Sherbet

Ingredients:

  • 1 c water
  • 1/3 c honey
  • 1 c berries (used 2/3c raspberries & 1/3 c blackberries)
  • 2.5 cups peaches
  • 1 c 2% milk

Instructions: Bring water and honey just to boil in small saucepan over high heat, stir to dissolve honey. Add berries, crushing with back of spoon and reduce to low simmer for 10 m. Remove from heat and strain through fine mesh sieve. Chill while preparing peaches.

Peel and dice peaches. Puree in food processor or blender until smooth, add milk and berry syrup and pulse until blended. Chill for at least 1 hour. Process in ice cream maker as instructed, freeze and enjoy! Makes about 1 qt., 4-6 servings.

Blend peaches, milk and berry syrup in food processor. Chill 1 hour. Freeze in ice cream maker.

Food Miles: This was 100% local! South Mountain Creamery milk 63mi., Toigo Orchards honey 114mi., Papa’s Orchard’s donut peaches 87mi., Harris Orchard’s supersweet peaches 24mi., Westmoreland Berry Farm black & raspberries 71mi. All but the milk (delivered) and Harris peaches were from Alexandria farmers markets — this recipe is being shared with the Farmers Market Report at the new “To Every Meal There is a Season”.

Tags: dessert · recipes

3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener // Aug 19, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    Way to go, Colleen! Home-made ice cream (whether custard based or Philadelphia style), sorbet, gelato, sherbet, frozen yoghurt are some of the greatest home-made treats. Easy – REALLY, it is!, flavorful, fresh. You control the flavors, the sugar and: no junky additives!

    It’s such a great year for peaches too. I have been making Philadelphia-style peach ice-cream by the gallon for clients’ parties (they always rave about it!) and white peach sorbet by the quart for home. I use yellow peaches for the ice-cream (better acidity, i.e. better balance with the cream) and white/rosy peaches for the sorbet – sweeter, therefore making the sorbet creamier in feel without having any fat whatsoever.

    Enjoy your ice-cream maker.

  • 2 Sandy // Aug 19, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    Mmmm. This is lovely, and so delicious, I bet! Right now I have three different home-made sorbets in my freezer (peach, kiwi, and plum-ginger) and I’d still like to give this one a whirl! Thanks for the recipe!

  • 3 Kerry // Aug 21, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    Thanks for your submission to the Farmer’s Market Report! I’ll have the next Report up at 10am on this Sat. – Aug 23rd. Hope to see you again!

    We lived in DC years ago and I grew up in Va Beach – I’ll enjoy reading your blog – it takes me home! 🙂