Beautiful and delicious!
I promised this recipe to go with the Watermelon Cookies I posted yesterday. I didn’t think there was a better way to eat watermelon than with a fork and a salt shaker, but this Watermelon Basil Sorbet takes the prize.
A friend of mine recently made a lemon sorbet that used simple syrup that had been infused with basil and mint. I have made my watermelon sorbet a few times this summer and it is really yummy, but this time I decided to try adding the mint and fresh basil to my simple syrup and it resulted in an even more delicious sorbet.
I made this last night when our neighbors came over for dinner. We had brined bbq pork chops, a corn, avocado, and cucumber salad, homemade onion rings and to top it off this Watermelon Sorbet with the watermelon cookies.
I used about half a large watermelon. What was leftover I froze to use in watermelon mojitos which I had over the 4th of July and they were fantastic.
You will need 8 cups cubed watermelon. Cube the watermelon, removing the seeds. Put the watermelon in your food processor and puree.
To make the simple syrup I used 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add 24 fresh basil leaves and 12 mint leaves. Let the leaves infuse for 3-4 minutes then strain and pour your simple syrup into a jar and refrigerate until needed.
You are going to add some lemon juice (2 tablespoons) and 1 cup of the simple syrup.
Pour this into your ice cream maker and freeze until firm. Pour into freezer container and freeze until ready to serve. Do not make this a day ahead as it may get too hard. I usually make it about 4-5 hours ahead of serving time. If you have the Cuisinart ice cream freezer that is 1 1/2 quarts, you may not be able to use all the mixture. I usually have about 2 cups left over that I can do another small batch.
Now serve this with some of those watermelon cookies and you have a refreshing summer dessert.
Watermelon Basil Mint Sorbet
- 8 cups of cubed watermelon
- 1 cup basil/mint infused simple syrup
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Basil/Mint Infused Simple Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 24 basil leaves
- 12 mint leaves
Cube the watermelon and remove all seeds. Put this in your food processor and puree until you have no chunks. Add the 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and 1 cup of the basil/mint infused simple syrup. Pour this mixture into your ice cream freezer and freeze until thick. Pour into freezer containers and freeze 4-5 hours before serving. I would not do this a day in advance because it gets too firm. I like to do mine in the afternoon and serve it the same night.
For the simple syrup: Put the sugar and water in saucepan and bring to boil, turn down and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the basil and mint leaves. Let them set in syrup for 3-4 minutes, then strain and put in jar and refrigerate until needed.
