Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Raspberry Sorbet

I am definitely obsessive compulsive cautious when it comes to watching out for potential food allergens. So I guess you can call me stupid and naive for taking my son to an ice cream shop this past Saturday evening for a mother-son date. I found out that they serve dairy free sorbets at Cold Stone, and I had the preparer wash the serving spoon and put the sorbet right from the tub into a bowl so that it wouldn't touch any of the counter tops that had ice cream remains. I was really excited about their willingness to do all of this for us and we sat and enjoyed our ice cream. Well 5 minutes after my son finished he started hacking up a lung, so obviously there was still a tiny trace amount of dairy in the sorbet. Luckily it was just a small trace amount and 4 MLs of benadryl did the trick. Now I know not to do that again!
I've been making sorbets at home ever since my friend Mel let me borrow her ice cream maker almost 2 years ago. Since then I've purchased my own and made lots and lots of sorbet. I usually keep my freezer heavily stocked. Sure the process is a little longer than I would like it to be, but it's all worth it to ensure the safety of a child with food allergies right? Plus I think this sorbet is so much more divine than regular ice cream anyways! Everyone devours it!


Raspberry Sorbet
Recipe from Cuisinart
makes 8 (1/2 cup) servings


2 cups sugar
2 cups water
12 ounce bag frozen raspberries, pureed and strained (about 1 cup)
4 teaspoons lemon juice


*To puree the raspberries you can either thaw them out and puree with the juices, or you might need to add up to 1/4 cup of water if you use frozen. You can use a food processor or blender. (I'm not going to lie, a food processor is much easier)
*Once pureed use a fine metal strainer to strain out the berries. Use a spatula to mash the berries to the metal strainer and then use a butter knife or another spatula to scrape off the bottom into a bowl. Trust me it is worth the effort for smooth sorbet!
*Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar dissolves, about 3-4 minutes. Cool completely (either covered overnight in the fridge or by chilling over an ice bath for 30 minutes).
*Once the sugar water is cooled, add raspberries and lemon juice and stir to combine. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions. Mine takes 30 minutes to thicken (pictured below)
*Transfer to an airtight container and place in the freezer until firm, about 2 hours. You can store in your freezer just like you would any frozen treat- until it gets eaten up!

8 comments:

Melanie said...

That's kind of scary! I'm glad Scott was ok.

LOVE the red appliance by the way. So sassy.

FPIESmommy said...

I was thinking about buying an ice cream maker - I think you have inspired me to go out and do it! And I LOVE the red! :)

Glad everything is okay.

Alisa Frugal Foodie said...

What a bummer! Glad he was okay though. Homemade is somehow always better too :)

Karen said...

We used to have an ice cream shop near us that washed the dairy free serving spoons, in a dairy free sink, even the dairy free freezer was seperate. New owners different ideas, sad day!

Hannah said...

Thank you for this recipe! My twin 17 mo old boys are now realizing that they don't get to have all of the treats their cousins do and I try my best to have a safe alternative for them. We recently had almost the exact experience at a ice cream store in NC while on vacation. I was assure the product was safe and they even used special utensils and scraped the top layer off of the sorbet to make sure of no contamination. The boys were THRILLED with being able to eat such a treat. 30 minutes later none of us were thrilled by the massive vomitting x2. Benadryl and a bath later they were happy and safe, but I now am even more hesitant to take any chances.

Nicole said...

Hannah,
Thanks for the comment. I know we would do anything for our kids and so cooking from scratch isn't a big deal...but still it's fun for them to go out and actually have the fun "icecream experience". I'm getting to the point now where I don't take my son to any resturaunts or fast food joints. It's too bad they don't have more places dedicated to being allergen free.

Anonymous said...

If you can get friendly with a local restaurant owner, ask them to order some dairy free margarine for you from Sysco Foods. Their Wholesome Farms brand block margarine (regular NOT the European style) is totally dairy free and delicious (avail. exclusively thru Sysco). It is not loaded with water like other margarines, so is perfect for cooking, baking or licking off your plate. I am highly sensitive to milk and this product has NEVER made me ill. My family and friends don't even notice that it is all soy. You'll have to buy it by the case (for about $1.00 per 1 pound block / case of 30 blocks) but it is worth buying a freezer to store it in if you don't already have one. Enjoy! GraceMarie :)

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