This cranberry orange sorbet is an unusual and delicious holiday dessert. It's especially lovely if you are celebrating the holidays in a warmer climate!
Nothing says fall and holidays more to me than seeing cranberries appear at the grocery store.
I buy lots and store them in the freezer, because other than a few short weeks in November and December, I never see them!
While I love to use them in all sorts of ways, like my Mulled Cranberry Sauce, they are also perfect for holiday desserts!
Ingredients.
- Cranberries - can be fresh or frozen. This is the perfect recipe to use up any frozen cranberries you have in your freezer.
- Oranges - for zest and juice. If you want to use fresh squeezed orange juice, you'll need more oranges.
- Orange juice - while fresh squeezed is best, I almost always use the carton of orange juice that is always in my fridge.
- Sugar - white granulated works fine.
- Grand Marnier or Cointreau - this is optional, but it adds a nice flavor and it keeps the sorbet from freezing too hard.
Instructions.
Bring cranberries, water, sugar, and orange zest to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for 30 minutes.
To remove the cranberry skins, you can use a food mill or a blender. I used a food mill. If you use a blender, you'll need to push it through a sieve afterward to get rid of the bits of skin. It's a little extra work than most sorbets, but so worth it!
Stir in the orange juice and if you're using liqueur stir that in too.
Place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled and then process in your ice cream maker.
I use a Cuisinart ice cream maker, so I get the bowl out of the freezer. Place it in the machine, with the paddle and lid. Turn it on and pour in the cranberry mixture. I set my timer for 20 minutes to start checking it. It usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes.
If you are looking for something different to do with cranberries, you have come to the right place. This was amazing. When you first taste this, all you taste is sweet and it tastes like a regular sorbet, but then after you swallow, you get the tartness of the cranberries. It is a very sophisticated flavor. A favorite from A Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.
Having a frozen Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert might seem unusual, but there are a lot of people that celebrate the holidays in warm weather! Also, it makes a great pallet cleanser between a rich dinner and a rich dessert!
More cranberry recipes!
Recipe.
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Cranberry Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cranberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 orange zest and juice
- 1 ½ cups orange juice fresh squeezed or from a bottle
- 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat the cranberries, water, sugar and zest and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.
- Pass the cranberries through a food mill to remove the skins. If you don't have a food mill, you can use a blender and then pass it through a sieve to remove any bits of skin.
- Stir the orange juice and liqueur into the cranberry mixture and chill in the fridge for an hour or two.
- Process the sorbet in your ice cream maker according to it's instructions. I use a Cuisinart. I place the freezer bowl in the machine, add the paddle and the lid and turn it on. Pour in the cranberry mixture and let it process for 20-30 minutes. Put in a freezer safe container and store in the freezer.
Ruth E says
I love the mixture of the Christmassy flavours in this. Sounds so tasty and refreshing.Thanks for sending this into the round upRuth
ley says
OH my goodness, this is so perfect! I wish I was back in Chattanooga so I could get away with eating all that and not freezing. Fantastic idea! 🙂
Maggie says
This sounds wonderful and I love that you made it with last year's cranberries. I'm always using up my last bags of cherries just as the next year's cherry season begins.
Joanna says
Saw your blog on "Blogs of Note" - immediately fell in love with your food photography, which I am just beginning to try myself. Nice work!
VibeGal123 says
hmmmmmm im deffenetly saving this and using it
Tillz says
Cool! Never tried that, just looking at it make smy mouth water.
Simon and Ruby says
That looks delicious. Thank you for reviving my tastebuds!
Kevin says
Did I ever retire my ice cream maker too early this year. What a great way to enjoy cranberries.
Robert Girandola says
These photographs are spectacular! 🙂
Anyk Jacobs says
Cranberry and orange both my favrite tastes. Your sorbet looks absolutely incredible. 🙂
Sammiches says
Oh yum. Though I'm not sure you get cranberries here.
Chase says
okay. that looks SO good..
Sarita Leone says
I was wondering what else I could do with cranberries this year, thank you! This recipe looks fabulous. I'm going to try it this week. 🙂
narayanan says
they are great. I love veg food and this one is very good. nosle.com todd
Miz Molly says
I can almost taste this!
Fantastic photos by the way.
I have an ice-cream maker tucked away somewhere - you have inspired me!
Jon says
I had my first chance to make frozen desserts this past summer, when my exec. chef decided to feature Gelato and it was definitely a blast - I'm excited to give this one a try.
Lady_Rhinoa says
Ohhh myyy... It looks so delicious !!!
I love sorbets, fruits and most of the things related to them.
fixyourthinking says
Yum ... this would be a great Thanksgiving meal dessert.
Christina says
Oh, this looks like a lovely fall dessert, and a nice departure from the usual rich autumn desserts. Beautiful!
Brittany says
This looks so incredibly amazing, I love cranberries!
HomeschoolinginCali says
That looks so good. So, So, So good
sc says
yummy!the pic reminds me of grandma she always made home made ice cream in the summer when we visited. s.
mattkushan says
this looks wonderful
Anonymous says
I love this blog.
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says
What a perfect dessert after a heavy Thanksgiving dinner. I'm bookmarking.
kitchenetta says
I LOVE the Perfect Scoop. I may have to make this for Thansgiving...
Mike of Mike's Table says
I've been wondering about this flavor lately myself and can imagine how good it must be. The color really sings!And, lol, and I *finally* just used up the last of my cranberries in the freezer--I better stock up so I can be backwards about it next year!
Jeff says
I have been working on my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker skills and still lacking bad. Do you know about how long you ran it in the mixer?
Pam says
Marjie - this would be wonderful in your knew ice cream attachment!
soulchocolate - I love, love, love my ice cream maker!
Natashya - what a great idea!
Pam - thanks, but it was David Lebovitz's creativity. He is a genius!
Noble - how about right after your turkey??
Katherine - I absolutely love my ice cream maker, I use it all year round.
Patricia - it really is yummy and tart.
Grace - I love the combination of cranbery and orange, it's perfect, isn't it?
Grace says
i can't believe i haven't seen this particular combination as a sorbet before! cranberry and orange are a lovely pair, and your sorbet looks incredible. 🙂
Patricia Scarpin says
I have tried cranberries (dried ones) with oranges in cookies and truffles so far and loved it, Pam - your sorbet looks amazing!
Katherine Aucoin says
You had me at "Cran". I am definitely buying an ice cream maker and trying this. I love fresh canberries.
noble pig says
Could I put this on turkey? Yum.
Pam says
One of my favorite things about this time of year is fresh cranberries. I love this recipe - it's so creative.
soulchocolate says
Yummo! I have been craving to own one of those nifty CuisineArt ice cream makers for some months now! Maybe this is just what I need after seeing your post on this! Absolutely stunning!
Marjie says
Oh, yeah! You know I'll be all over this one. I buy lots of cranberries in November, too, and freeze them, because I believe they're only harvested in October/November. A friend once dated (for about a year) an heir to Ocean Spray. I told him he should have kept her, and kept me supplied with cranberries. He laughed at me.