Don’t tell my favorite produce stand but I have been buying watermelons from Walmart. At $2 a seedless watermelon I just could not buy them. My family has been eating them just about as fast as I can buy them too. Then again there are 6 of us. Food doesn’t last long around this house so I had to hide some watermelon from my family to make a special treat. My friend Stella from Stella Reynoso.com shared on her Instagram a ice cream maker free way to make sorbet. Since I almost always forget to throw my Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker base in the freezer I was intrigued. I really, really like sorbet and I have wanted to make some for a long time. With those $2 watermelons the timing was perfect.
Sorbet is simple. It is typically made with fruit and is just fruit puree and/or juice, sugar and water. The sugar and water is made into a simple syrup and then added to fruit puree and frozen. It really doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Where this recipe is different is that most sorbet recipes tell you to place the fruit mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze. If you have a bit of time there is another way if you do not have an ice cream maker or if you just keep forgetting to put the base in the freezer and all you need is a Ziploc freezer bag. Yep, a Ziploc bag. All you need to do is pour the fruit mixture into a large Ziploc plastic freezer bag and seal it up. While it is freezing move the contents around in the bag every 15 minutes for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
You want it to get frozen and slushy. Then all there is left to do is to transfer it into a plastic container and seal. Let it sit for a couple hours and then you have some delicious sorbet that rivals what you can buy in the store! I have made this recipe several times now and I have gone onto experimenting with different fruits. Strawberry worked beautifully in this recipe. Try it for yourself! You will be amazed at how easy and good this sorbet is!
- ½-1 cup white sugar (based on your fruit’s sweetness)
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 cups cubed seeded watermelon
- Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and refrigerate until cooled, about 30 minutes.
- Blend watermelon in a blender or food processor until pureed. Stir pureed watermelon into sugar mixture.
- Pour mixture into a large resealable plastic freezer bag. Seal, and freeze for 45 minutes to an hour. Move the contents around in the bag every 15 minutes while freezing. OR.... Transfer watermelon mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Transfer sorbet to a one- or two-quart lidded plastic container; cover surface with plastic wrap and seal. For best results, sorbet should ripen in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight
Recipe originally from Allrecipes.com