Lemon Yogurt Sorbet (Sherbet) Recipe

Lemon Yogurt Sorbet with Mulberries & Strawberries from the Garden

Now that I make my own yogurt, I keep my eye open for ideas on what to do with it (besides what I’ve always done with it). Recently I scored an Easiyo yogurt maker from Freecycle.org (love that site!). I use the maker to make yogurt from my own culture rather than buying the packages the supplier sells, but I checked out the Easiyo website for ideas and found a recipe for Lemon Yogurt Sherbet (that’s Sorbet in Australia).

(Editors note: If you’re from the UK or Australia, sherbet is a fizzy powder, if you’re from the US, sherbet is sorbet with dairy.)

Since I have lemons in my back yard and I love cold sweets, I had a hunch I’d like a lemon yogurt sorbet so I gave it a go. Here’s the recipe:

1) Beat until stiff 1 cup cream.

2) Fold in:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2/3 cup icing sugar
• zest of 1 large lemon
• juice of 1 large lemon

3) Place mixture in freezer.

4) Remove sherbet and stir every hour until it’s frozen through – about 5 – 6 hours. (I have done a batch where I stirred every 2 hours and it worked fine).

5) Remove from the freezer 45 minutes before serving. I have served it straight from the freezer as well and I didn’t find it hard to serve, maybe beautiful scoops are trickier to make.

This recipe is criminally easy – but it does take a while and you need to be around to give it an hourly stir. I imagine if you didn’t, you’d end up with some unfortunate hard lump rather than something more resembling ice cream. Many recipes I read have the last step something like “put it in your ice cream maker and follow their instructions”. I guess if I had one of those this recipe would be even easier but I don’t mind stirring a few times so I’m not buying an ice cream maker.

The result is a tangy sorbet (less creamy than an ice cream, but creamy nonetheless)  that makes a refreshing dessert or maybe a palate cleanser between courses. I’m sure it would work marvellously with berries or passion fruit or any other tangy fruit rather than the lemon.

In all honestly, the taste and effect (creamy, tart and cool) was similar to my Lemon & Raspberry Verrine. Since I’m thinking it has less of the cholesterol building ingredients and calories and will keep for a good long while in the freezer (I have no intention of keeping it long enough to see when it becomes inedible) I suspect that, though I loved my LRV, I won’t make it very often. This sorbet/sherbet, on the other hand, I plan to keep in my freezer at least throughout the summer. It is really really good.

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