Strawberry Sherbet

Makes between 1 and 1½ quarts sherbet

While this is a textbook sherbet, I don’t always label it as such when I pack it into pints or list it on a menu. Most of the time I call it “Strawberry-Buttermilk Ice Cream” because it’s the only strawberry ice cream I make. It’s bursting with more strawberry flavor than any ice cream you’ve tasted.

I love this sherbet at the peak of strawberry season, when the local berries are so red they stain your face and so flavorful you just don’t care. Even in season, though, I prefer to make the puree from frozen berries, so I tuck those field-fresh strawberries into the freezer overnight.

As they freeze, the water inside the strawberries turns into sharp ice crystals that puncture the cell walls of the berries. A key part of strawberry flavor comes from an enzymatic reaction that occurs only when the cell walls break, so thawed frozen strawberries taste more like strawberries. And if you puree your strawberries when they are only half thawed, the bright red pigment of the fruit is preserved, making for the prettiest purees around.

If putting your strawberries through a freeze-thaw cycle isn’t in your time line, go ahead and puree fresh berries. But if it isn’t strawberry season, promise me you’ll skip the plastic box of strawberries with the same texture as packing peanuts, and grab a bag of frozen berries instead.

Strawberry Puree (25%)
250g | 1¼ cups

Buttermilk (10%)
100g | ½ cup

Malic or citric acid
3g | ½ teaspoon (optional, or lemon juice to taste)

Milk (30%)
300g | 1½ cups

Cream (10%)
100g | ½ cup

Sugar (15%)
150g | ¾ cup

Glucose (10%)
100g | ½ cup

Texture agent of your choice (see below)

Make the strawberry mixture. Whisk together the puree, buttermilk, and malic acid in a small bowl. Set in the refrigerator.

Boil the dairy. Place the milk, cream, sugar Numeral 1, and glucose in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking occasionally to discourage the milk from scorching. When the dairy comes to a full rolling boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer for 2 minutes Numeral 4. Remove the pot from heat Numeral 3.

Chill. Immediately pour the sherbet base into a shallow metal or glass bowl. Working quickly, fill a large bowl two-thirds of the way with very icy ice water. Nest the hot bowl into this ice bath, stirring occasionally until it cools down.

Mix the base with the strawberry mixture. When the base is cool to the touch (50°F or below), remove the bowl from the ice bath Numeral 2. Add the strawberry mixture to the base, whisking until evenly combined.

Strain. Strain the sherbet through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the particles of strawberry that may remain intact. (This step is optional, but will help ensure the smoothest sherbet possible.)

Cure. Transfer the sherbet base to the refrigerator to cure for 4 hours, or preferably overnight. (This step is also optional, but the texture will be much improved with it.)

Churn. When you are ready to churn your sherbet, place it into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The sherbet is finished churning when it thickens into the texture of soft-serve ice cream and holds its shape, typically 20 to 30 minutes.

Harden. To freeze your sherbet in the American hard-pack style, immediately transfer your finished sherbet to a container with an airtight lid. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the sherbet to prevent ice crystals from forming, cover, and store it in your freezer until it hardens completely, between 4 and 12 hours. Or, feel free to enjoy your sherbet immediately; the texture will be similar to soft-serve.

TEXTURE AGENTS

Numeral 1 Best texture Commercial stabilizer 3g | 1 teaspoon mixed with the sugar before it is added to the dairy.

Numeral 2 Least icy Guar or xanthan gum 1g | ¼ teaspoon whirled in a blender with the sherbet base after it is chilled in the ice bath.

Numeral 3 Easiest to use Tapioca starch 5g | 2 teaspoons mixed with 20g | 2 tablespoons of cold water, whisked into the dairy after it is finished cooking.

Numeral 4 Most accessible Cornstarch 10g | 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon, mixed with 20g | 2 tablespoons of cold water, whisked into the simmering dairy, then cooked for 1 minute.