Raspberry Sherbet

A Three-Ingredient Sherbet, No Machine Required

Forget the ice cream maker. This raspberry sherbet needs nothing more than a blender, a freezer-safe container, and patience for the freeze. Three ingredients, fifteen seconds of blending, done.

The magic ingredient is buttermilk, not cream. Cream would make this an ice cream; buttermilk gives sherbet its signature tangy, light, almost lactic finish that lets the raspberry flavor punch through clean instead of getting buried in dairy fat. The natural acidity of buttermilk also helps prevent the icy crystals you get from straight fruit-and-sugar sorbets.

Serve scooped into stemmed glasses with a few fresh berries on top. Pretty, bright pink, and tastes like summer.

Pro Tips

• Use frozen raspberries, not fresh, even when fresh are in season. Frozen berries blend smoother and the cold helps with the initial freeze.
• Strain the puree through a fine sieve before freezing if you want to remove the seeds. This is the difference between rustic and silky sherbet.
• Freeze in a shallow, wide container so it freezes faster and more evenly. Deep containers freeze unevenly and form an icy crust.
• Stir the sherbet every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours of freezing for a smoother, scoopable texture. Skip this step and you get a hard block.
• Let the container sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before scooping if it’s frozen rock-solid.

Variations

• Swap strawberries, blackberries, or peaches for the raspberries.
• Add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice for an even brighter, more tart sherbet.
• Stir in 2 tablespoons of vodka or chambord before freezing for a softer-scoop, slightly boozy adult version.