This Summer Sherbet Recipe is a hit with parents and kids.

Here in the Midwest, this Summer Sherbet Recipe gets put to use quite frequently. The warmer temperatures will linger for a few more precious weeks, and fresh, local fruits will still be available at stores and farmers’ markets. I love summer fruit, especially berries and stone fruits (peaches, plums, etc.), and a wide variety are grown in nearby farms and orchards. While friends of mine enjoy canning or freezing produce for winter, I prefer to enjoy it right now. One of our favorite ways is to use our ice cream maker to create sherbets and sorbets and this summer sherbet recipe is a winner.

I’m always on the search for healthy, whole foods. Most homemade ice cream uses “whole foods,” but loads of heavy cream and sugar are not healthy. But you can’t just freeze low-fat milk and hope for the best; it won’t work.

The geniuses at Eating Well developed a fruit sherbet recipe  that solves this problem by using low-fat buttermilk and just a little cream. I’ve altered the recipe to fit our tastes, first by eliminating the fruit chunks (which one of my children doesn’t like), and secondly by cooking the berries to release more juice before pureeing them. This leads to a smoother, more intensely flavored sherbet that the kids and I enjoy (though my husband would still prefer full-fat ice cream.)

You can read through the steps below or open up a new window for a printable recipe here.

Don’t have an ice cream maker? Here are 6 creative ways to freeze ice cream without a machine.

Summer Sherbet Recipe

NOTE: My favorite recipes work like a formula that I can change and mix up endlessly to create new flavors. This recipe works the same way. You can use any 2 cups of berries or stone fruits or combination of both. The sherbet pictured at the top is strawberry-blackberry with a dash of cinnamon. Yum! Think about flavors that you’ve seen in gelato or even herbal teas. Two of my favorite teas are blackberry sage and plum ginger; both flavor combinations create a delicious, sophisticated sherbet. As a rule, mild baking spices work well with berries (cinnamon, mild spice blends), and stronger flavors like ginger pair well with stone fruit, especially red plums.

Summer Sherbet Recipe Ingredients:

– 2 cups fresh berries or chopped stone fruits, or a combination of fruits

– 1/2 cup sugar

– 2 3/4 cups nonfat or low-fat buttermilk

– 1/4 cup heavy cream

– 2 teaspoons lemon juice

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– Pinch of salt

– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or other spice or dried herb of your choosing (optional; see note above)

1. Combine fruit and sugar in a medium saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted and the fruit has released some of its juice. Stir frequently to avoid burning.

2. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and puree the mixture. OR you can cook the fruit longer and then mash it by hand. SET the saucepan aside; you will use it again!

3. Place a fine-mesh sieve over your saucepan. Using a large spoon, push the berry mixture through the sieve so that the skin/seeds stay in the sieve and the thick juice mixture goes into the pan.

Push the mixture through the sieve into the saucepan. Help it along by scraping the bottom of the sieve into the saucepan as you go.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the saucepan. Stir or whisk until well blended. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. (You can skip refrigeration, but that means it will take your sherbet longer to freeze, even with a machine.)

5. Place the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions, OR follow instructions for freezing sherbet without a machine.

Sit back and watch your sherbet come together!

Lastly: serve! Hope you enjoy this summer sherbet recipe! Be creative, and let me know what combinations work for you.

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