Homemade Orange Sherbet

Circle B Kitchen

Recipe Courtesy, Fine Cooking

Makes about 1 quart

At the risk of setting your expectations impossibly high, I’m still going to say that this may be some of the best orange sherbet you’ll ever have the pleasure of meeting. It’s bright and citrusy and creamy and sweet and tangy all at the same time and all of that is so perfectly balanced and just so good. The only change I made to the recipe was to use half and half instead of cream. We loved it, but if you’re game for using the cream, I can only imagine how even more creamy and wondrous it would be. Please DO use fresh-squeezed orange juice. From real, fresh oranges. Mostly because of the fresh orange flavor, but also because you absolutely cannot skip the step where you steep the orange zest to make this even more awesomely orange. Lovely stuff.

10 medium navel oranges (about 5 lb.)

1 cup granulated sugar

1-1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)

Finely grate enough zest from the oranges to yield 2 Tbs., and then squeeze the oranges to yield 3 cups juice.

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the zest, 1 cup of the juice, and the sugar to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Strain though a fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on the zest; discard the zest.

Strain the remaining orange juice and the lemon juice into the bowl, and then whisk in the heavy cream. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the sherbet to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.