RECIPE
Originally sherbet was a cold drink made with diluted and sweetened fruit juice. It’s Persian and Turkish in origin and eventually when it made its way to the US, they added milk or cream and froze it into an ice cream like mixture.
This recipe roasts the fruit and then blends it with water and heavy cream, but milk can also be used. The heavy cream yields a richer consistency. By law (yes, there are laws for what you can call sherbet), it can only have so much butter fat. This one counts if you’re not selling it!
Handful of geranium flowers
1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 cup sugar
4-5 cups of plums, pitted and quartered
1 cup water
1 ½ cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Mix the sugar with the geranium and Szechuan pepper until pulverized and mixed well. We want the sugar to be infused with the scent and flavor of the herbs and spice.
Place the plums on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the sugar over the plums and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the plums are soft. Allow the plums to cool.
Place the plums in a blender, making sure to scrape all the juices and sugary caramelized bits into the blender, as well. Add the water and heavy cream and blend until super smooth. You will need to blend about 4 minutes total.
Pour the liquid into a container with a lid and place in the freezer for about 3-4 hours or until fully frozen.
For the ice cream:
Add plums to a medium saucepan along with sugar and water. Cook over medium low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the plums have broken down and become jammy. Allow plum mixture to cool down before adding to a blender. Blend on high until the mixture is nice and smooth. Add in the salt, vanilla extract and sour cream and blend to combine.
Pour sherbet mix into a shallow freezer-safe container and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours or until the sherbet is completely set. To serve, let sherbet soften at room temperature for 10 minutes. Scoop and enjoy!
If you have a coffee grinder or spice grinder on hand use to pulverize the sugar mixture.
More Seasonal recipes
