Raspberry sorbet

This luscious and refreshing raspberry sorbet recipe is a great way to beat the heat and indulge your tastebuds this summer! Fresh, raw ingredients make this sorbet simply outstanding, a cut above the rest! The bright colour and tangy flavour of the raspberries make it one of the most popular sorbet flavours of all. Incredibly fruity and refreshing, it’s perfect as a dessert on a summer evening, or as a treat in the middle of the afternoon as you relax in the garden. This raspberry sorbet recipe is quick and easy to make – with or without an ice cream maker.

This raspberry sorbet is a great cool-me-down on hot summer days. I also like serving it after dinner as a light and refreshing alternative to dessert. It’s versatile too. You can serve it in scoops in ice cream bowls, with some fresh raspberries, for example. Or with another sorbet or ice cream flavour, like vanilla or peach. Perhaps my favourite way of serving it is semi melted, in a flute or cocktail glass, like a sorbetto. Italians often serve sorbetto between courses, as a palate cleanser, because it’s so refreshing.

About this recipe

For this raspberry sorbet recipe, you’ll need just three ingredients: fresh raspberries, vegan sugar, and a little lemon juice. No glucose, no water, no cooking, no weird ingredients. Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to make this raspberry sorbet, even without an ice cream maker.

Ever since I started my food blog – in 2020, the same year I went vegan – my family have bought me lots of kitchen gadgets and equipment. One of my favourites is the ice cream maker my son and daughter gave me for Christmas one year. Yes, of course, they were expecting lots of delicious ice cream, so I couldn’t disappoint! Sorbets… well, so far, I’ve made lemon, peach, melon, apricot, mixed berry, strawberry, mango and American red concord grape (uva Americana or uva fragola in Italian). They also hoovered up all my attempts at ice creams… chocolate, vanilla, coffee, banana and hazelnut! I must admit that I’ve always loved fruit flavours the best, especially Italian sorbetto. And they’re so much easier to make because they’re naturally vegan. Unless you count those that use egg whites.

Actually, veganism aside, when it comes to fruit sorbets, less is really more. Adding ingredients like egg whites really does nothing to enhance the flavour or texture of the sorbet. On the contrary, it seems to detract from the flavour of the fresh fruit. You only need three ingredients to make a great sorbet of any kind – so forget all those complicated ingredients and methods, and let’s get started!

How to make raspberry sorbet

Ingredients

You’ll find the exact quantities of each ingredient in the recipe card at the end of this blog post.

Fresh raspberries

Choose raspberries that are fresh, juicy and full of flavour. If you want a great-tasting fruit sorbet, your fruit has to be top quality. You can also use frozen raspberries for this recipe if fresh ones are out of season. The procedure is identical, whether you use fresh or frozen. Just let the raspberries thaw partially before starting the blender.

Sugar

Wherever possible, I use raw, organic cane sugar in the kitchen. It’s vegan, and probably one of the “healthiest” sweeteners out there. Sometimes though, I need white sugar, like in this recipe. A lot of people don’t know that some brands of white sugar aren’t vegan. I use Aarberg finely ground white sugar, which is labelled vegan, for making sorbets. I buy it at the Migros here in Switzerland.

Lemon juice

Lemon juice balances out the sweetness of the sugar. Always use freshly–squeezed lemon juice, not the bottled variety.

Method 1 – How to make raspberry sorbet using an ice cream maker

• Put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a sieve to eliminate the seeds,
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for making sorbet. In my machine, a HKoenig hf320, I just set it to the ice-cream-making function and leave it to churn for 30 minutes.
• Once the sorbet is frozen, get it out of the basket with a plastic spoon or spatula and put it into a container suitable for freezing. I recommend you place it in the freezer for at least an hour before serving. See below for suggestions on how to serve your raspberry sorbet.

Method 2 – How to make raspberry sorbet without an ice cream maker

• If you don’t have an ice cream maker, don’t be discouraged – you’ll still get good results without. Just follow the instructions below.
• Follow the first two steps above and then pour the sorbet mixture into a container suitable for freezing. It should be large enough for you to be able to comfortably stir the mixture with a manual hand whisk or spoon. Put the lid on and place in the freezer for 90 minutes.
• Remove the container from the freezer and stir the mixture, scraping the sides down as well.
• Return the container to the freezer for 45 minutes.
• Remove from the freezer and stir/whip the mixture again, scraping the sides of the container well. If you use a whisk, you’ll need a sturdy one as it begins to freeze. Return the mixture to the freezer as quickly as possible.
• Repeat at 30-minute intervals. Make sure you scrape the edges well each time and break up any frozen chunks.
• After 2 – 3 hours, it should begin thickening to a soft-serve consistency. At this stage, you can decide whether to serve it or freeze it for longer and scoop it out when it’s firm (see next paragraph).

How to serve raspberry sorbet

You can serve your raspberry sorbet as soon as it comes out of the basket. It will be quite soft, though, and it will melt very quickly. I usually put mine in the freezer for an hour or so before serving. That way, it’ll still be soft enough to spoon into a flute glass and enjoy like an Italian sorbetto.

Alternatively, you can freeze it for longer and then scoop it out and serve it in an ice cream dish along with other flavours or on its own. Peach goes really well with raspberry. Or you could pair it with vanilla or chocolate.

How to store your raspberry sorbet

You can store your raspberry sorbet in the freezer, where it will keep for a couple of months. Bear in mind, though, that the longer it stays in the freezer the firmer it will become. The fruit-to-sugar ratio is such that you’ll be able to scoop it out of the container as soon as you get it out of the freezer. If you allow it to thaw a bit at room temperature before eating it, the flavour will be more intense. Extended freezing may cause some ice particles to form, as they do in all foodstuffs if kept in the freezer for a long time. I honestly doubt that this raspberry sorbet will be in your freezer for more than a couple of days – it’s gone in a flash at our house!

I think you’ll love the tantalisingly fresh, fruity flavour of this raspberry sorbet! If you do, let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!

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