You’ll impress your family or guests with this nutritious, tasty fruit-based dessert. We’ve provided variations for three five(!) flavors – Black Cherry, Piña Colada, Pear-Apple, Nectarine, and Kiwifruit. The Piña Colada version is our new fave, if you can’t decide which to make first 🙂

This recipe makes about 1 quart of finished sorbet. You’ll need a blender and a food processor with the steel blade. Our basic formula for the ingredients is about 2 lb. of fresh fruit, 1/3 cup sugar, and 8 oz. of liquid. Feel free to improvise and please share your own fruit flavor combos.

Pear-Apple Sorbet garnished with Meyer lemon zest

Ingredients

**New formulations for Black Cherry and Piña Colada**

Black Cherry Sorbet
3 lbs. (gross wt. before removing stems and pits) ripe black cherries, washed, stemmed and pitted
1/3 cup cane sugar
3 oz. kirsch, cherry brandy or kijafa (all high-proof sweet cherry liquors)
5 oz. water
1 tsp. Meyer lemon juice

Piña Colada Sorbet
The trimmed flesh of one ripe, medium sized pineapple, skin and core removed
4 oz. fresh raw coconut flesh, peeled and rinsed
1/4 cup cane sugar
3 oz. rum
5 oz. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pear-Apple Sorbet
2 lbs. barely ripe light-skinned pears (e.g., Bartlett), cored, skins on
1/3 cup cane sugar
6 oz. fresh apple juice
5 tsp. Meyer lemon juice

Nectarine Sorbet
2 lbs. barely ripe fresh nectarines, pitted, skins on
1/3 cup cane sugar
4 oz. water
4 oz. white wine
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, preferably Meyer

Kiwifruit Sorbet (shown in photos below)
7 ripe kiwifruits, peeled
1 Bartlett pear, cored, skin on
1/3 cup cane sugar
4 oz. water
4 oz. white wine
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, preferably Meyer
1 tsp. liquid agave

Directions

Coarsely chop the fruit. In a large saucepan, bring water, wine, juice, and chopped fruits just to the boil; stir in sugar. Return to boil to form a syrup. Reduce to simmer and cook just until fruits are soft, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Pour the (still hot) fruit and syrup mixture into blender.
Open the lid vent and cover blender lid with a towel to protect your hand, as you will want to hold the top in place while blending the hot liquid. Blend on medium setting until smooth – about 1-2 minutes. Taste mixture; add a bit more lemon juice if you like a brighter, tarter sorbet. If you want it sweeter, add a little liquid agave or simple syrup.

Pour the blended mixture into a 9×13” freezer-safe glass baking dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap (don’t let plastic wrap touch the sorbet mixture). Freeze for 6-8 hours or overnight, until solid.

Remove the frozen mixture from freezer and allow to soften for 15 minutes at room temperature. Cut into 2” squares and put half the frozen mixture in a food processor with steel blade. Process until very smooth, stopping to scrape down chunks as necessary. Put the first batch of processed sorbet into a freezer-proof bowl or other container, and repeat with second half of mixture. Once second batch is processed, return the first batch to the processor bowl and combine well.

Pack sorbet in freezer-proof bowl and cover. Freeze for at least several hours, tightly covered.  To serve, let stand at room temperature just until soft enough to scoop. Garnish with a little grated citrus zest or a mint leaf, if desired. Enjoy!

Kiwifruit and Piña Colada sorbets, served with a splash of Pinot Noir