Photo by Sarah Shatz
Genius Recipes's Notes:
Expand2-3 lemons, 1 seeded and roughly chopped and the others juiced Ask a question about this ingredient
2 cups sugar Ask a question about this ingredient
2 pounds strawberries, hulled Ask a question about this ingredient
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
Ask a question about this stepPurée the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.
Ask a question about this stepI made this with Meyer lemons and it cranked the insane deliciousness up to eleven. One of the all-time great summer desserts and way too easy.
Amanda says that cool little bowl is actually aluminum and she got them at a store in London called Divertimenti: http://www.divertimenti.co.uk/
Made this last night with 1/2 the sugar - AMAZING!! Very easy and very tasty!
Made this recipe using frozen berries, slightly thawed, and it came out great. In a word, the flavor is INTENSE. And the color is beautiful. Learned something using my brand new 1.5 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker (recommended by food52): this recipe is a little too large for the freezer bowl. My kitchen counter was quite the red mess. But that's a small price to pay for something so tasty. Live and learn! :0)
Thanks for the report, Margaret -- glad it mostly worked for you! I've been trying to figure out why yours overflowed, even though it fits in my ice cream maker (which, I think, is the same model). I'm wondering if it could be the difference in volume between 2 lbs. fresh berries, which then get the stems/hulls lopped off after weighing vs. 2 lbs. frozen berries, which have already been hulled? It sounds like the strawberry weight should be decreased by a few ounces when using frozen berries (especially when using a 1.5 quart machine!). Thanks for being the guinea pig!
"uni
19 days ago
If you don't have an ice cream maker, freeze the hulled berries first then process with the pureed sugar and lemons and you'll be ready to go. You might need an hour or two in the freezer. "
I used this version substituting Splenda for sugar since my family is diabetic. It was a smashing hit!
I was really skeptical about using the whole lemon, but wow, the flavor is amazing!
Love the chunks of lemon--it really made this a standout sorbet. I also found it a tad sweet but it made it perfect for pairing with the Prosecco we were drinking to celebrate our anniversary. I think I'll try pairing it with margaritas next.
do you need to use ice cream maker
You don't, but it will have a slightly icier texture -- check out Annelle's helpful report of her results, with and without an ice cream maker here: http://bit.ly/osgB3S
There are a couple great alternatives for diabetics in the comments on the original blog post here: http://bit.ly/khQWP3
Made this tonight. It was INCREDIBLE. At first I thought it might be a little bit too sweet but the tartness definitely balanced it out. I'm in love with this and am kind of glad my husband doesn't like strawberries because I can eat the whole thing by myself... (over a period of several days that is... )
I think it is all about taste.
I just made this..... It's wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made it with the two cups of sugar; a large chopped lemon; and 1/2 large lemon juiced.
It is just right for us.
Fabulous recipe!
Perhaps this will "out" me for my culinary immaturity, but I just made this, and it just tasted...pithy...I added a touch more sugar during churning to see if that would lessen it - it did, to an extent but it's definitely still there...again, could just be me and my immature taste buds - Maybe if I try it again I will stick to just the fleshy insides of the lemon...the pithy aftertaste is there too. Just me?
I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup, used 2 large lemons (1 chopped, 1 juiced) and passed it through a food mill to get all the little pieces of bitter pith that I kept finding while tasting. It still seems a tad on the sweet side but what gorgeous color and wonderful flavor! Thanks for posting this recipe and for all the helpful comments!
Making this right now - excited. First up, the lemon and sugar mixture is AWESOME. Oh my word - it would make a stunning base for a light cake. Having just made a Sicilian orange cake which was a winner, I'm going to try this technique in the recipe! Wonderful. So excited. Thank you
Tried this over the weekend and loved the technique. But I found the sugar and lemon overwhelmed the strawberry flavor just a bit. Next time, I'll try cutting those ingredients by a third each.
Made it for the Fourth, using berries that were teetering on the edge of being over-ripe. This was amazingly good. My only caveat was that the pieces of lemon rind were a little distracting; maybe I should have left it a little longer in the processor.
I made sure I pureed my lemon fine. I can see how if they were chunky, it would affect the taste. I wonder if this would be a great starter for an icecream float. Or sorbet float as the case may be!!!!!!!!!!
I just made this sorbet, and mine was cloyingly sweet. So sweet that I couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls. I used 1/4 to 1/3 cup LESS sugar than called for (Domino granulated white sugar), plus the juice of two lemons. The puree tasted fine in the bowl, but maybe my mixing was insufficent and there was lemon sugar at the bottom of the bowl. Tc.he strawberries were good but not stellar, and they weren't super sweet nor were they overly tart---maybe a 6 out of a 10, but the best available in the time I had.
Is 2 cups really the right amount of sugar? I would only use 1 cup in the future. Thanks.
The 2 cups of sugar is correct -- sorry it didn't work well for you! The ideal is a balance of sweet and tart. If you still have it around, you could try adding in some unsweetened whipped cream or creme fraiche to cut the sweetness -- either mixed in or spooned on top.
If you don't have an ice cream maker, freeze the hulled berries first then process with the pureed sugar and lemons and you'll be ready to go. You might need an hour or two in the freezer.
Made the puree and then stuck it in the freezer for an hour or so. I figured that the colder it was when it went into the machine the better. It isn't quite done yet, but the taste tests have been amazing.
If the taste of the "base" (pureed strawberries, sugar, and lemons) are any indication- then this is going to be phenomenal-- watching the ice cream maker churn (but you know what they say about a watched pot... so trying - not successfully-- to distract myself while I wait!) Thanks for posting this great simple summer recipe!
I'm away from my 'pot' or ice cream maker! The base was stunning, both in part (lemon and sugar mix) and the whole. My daughter and her friend are LICKING out the food processor bowl!!!
Run don't walk to this recipe. Simple and simply fantastic. This is definitely one to remember.
Looks gorgeous! Is this like lazy mary's lemon tart where the one lemon seeded includes pith & rind?
Sarah Shatz - you amaze me......seriously looking forward to a 'gift' of an afternoon with the food52 photographer. Merrill, Amanda - can you please make that one of the prizes?????????????
Just added this to my July 4th menu. My kind of recipe.
Sounds fresh and delicious, and your photo is awesome!
Stupid question: How do I seed and chop a lemon? Peel, remove seeds, chop?
2 or 3 lemons is a bit vague: Can you tell us how much weight of lemon to use?
We're at the beach and I made this last night - YUM!! So glad I upped the quantity a little so we have plenty for tonight too.