Cranberry Sherbet

A wonderful way to enjoy cranberries: a frosty sherbet

This is my entry for the Garden-Cook-Event hosted by Paulchen

 

I found recipes for cranberry sherbet in several vintage cookbooks, and this one consistently gives the best result. Many cookbooks recommend serving this sherbet after the roast turkey at a Thanksgiving course dinner. However, this sherbet is so good that, in my opinion, it is worth enjoying more than once a year.

 

From the original recipe by Mrs. E. H. Williams

In the “Los Angeles Times Cook Book No. 2″ 1905 ?–USA

Ingredients

1 quart (400 g) fresh cranberries

1 lb (454 g) sugar

1 quart (950 g) water

(1 large) lemon juice, strained

Place the cranberries and water in a large pan and bring to the boil, then simmer until the berries are tender, about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture of cooked berries and water into a clean pot through a fine sieve, pressing well on the fruit to extract all the juice and pulp and discard the solids that remain in the strainer. The resulting mixture will be a rather thin puree.

Add the sugar and the lemon juice and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar and prevent scorching.

Skim off any froth. Pour the cooked puree in a glass container and let cool.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Freeze the chilled mixture in an ice cream maker following the instructions that come with your appliance.

 

Note: I recommend straining the cranberry puree instead of using a blender or food processor, otherwise the sherbet texture will be gritty rather than smooth.