Based on the italian lemon sorbetto recipe from Elsa Petersen-Schepelern's book, "Gelato, Sorbets and Ice Creams," this sorbet recipe will appeal to mere mortals and not just lemon fanatics. The addition of limoncello make this a sorbet to remember.
Based on the italian lemon sorbetto recipe from Elsa Petersen-Schepelern's book, "Gelato, Sorbets and Ice Creams," this sorbet recipe will appeal to mere mortals and not just lemon fanatics. The addition of limoncello make this a sorbet to remember.
1 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 2 - 3 lemons)
2 cups Meyer lemon juice (juice of about 7 - 8 lemons, some you zested)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup limoncello (vodka is ok to substitute)
Wash and dry lemons. Using a microplane grater, remove the zest from two to three lemons until you have about 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. Place water, zest and sugar into small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute and then remove from heat.
Juice the lemons until you have 2 cups of juice. Pour juice through a chinois or sieve to remove seeds and pulp. Add 1/3 cup of limoncello to the juice and place in an ice bath to chill. Pour cooled zest and sugar mixture through chinois or sieve into ice bath with juice. Stir to mix and chill mixture in ice bath until less than 45° F. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to your maker's instructions.
Once chilled, remove from ice cream maker and place in dedicated (odor-free) container to let ripen in the freezer for several hours. Because of the alcohol, it will always be a tiny bit soft.
Ingredients for Meyer Lemon Sorbet.
Meyer lemons are less sour than other common varieties.
Use a microplane grater to remove the zest from 3 lemons.
Add 2 tablespoons of lemon zest to water.
Add sugar to zest and water.
Heat lemon zest, sugar and water over medium heat.
Boil for 1 minute and then remove from heat.
A citrus juicer is very handy when you need 2 cups of lemon juice.
Pour lemon juice through chinois to remove seeds and pulp.
Pour lemon zest syrup through sieve into ice bath.
Pour lemon juice into ice bath with lemon zest syrup.
Add limoncello to sorbet base and stir.
Chill mixture in ice bath until colder than 45° F.
Pour sorbet base into ice cream maker and freeze.
Sorbet will take longer to freeze than typical ice cream.
Sorbet will be a little softer than typical ice creams at this point.
Scoop sorbet into dedicated ice cream container and freeze for several hours.
Meyer Lemon Sorbet.
Combine the ingredients and prepare in your ice cream machine. Freeze further after preparing so it will firm up a bit more.
I like your idea of adding the Lemoncello - I may try that the next time, and if it helps keep the ice cream softer in the freezer, that would be a VERY good thing. Thanks for sharing your recipe.