Blackberry Lime Sherbet

If you recall a while back, I was “gifted” a large surplus of blackberries and lime juice from my parents in an attempt to clean out their freezer. Let’s just say I had a large amount of material to work with.

In many ways, you have to feel a bit sorry for the little green lime. It tends to get overlooked in many cuisines. Lemon often seems to be the hero of the day. But paired with the right ingredients, limes add a unique flavor that lemon just can’t compare to, above and beyond the tart that comes from citrus.

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This is all a very good thing, especially since my parents’ lime tree is an abundant producer, along with their blackberry brambles. Lime and blackberry make an amazing combination, and a small dose of sugar doesn’t hurt. The blackberry-limeade I made with this same drop-off of goods from my parents disappeared in a big-fat-hurry. And then there were the requests demands for more.

I decided to opt for something with an extra layer of chill built in this time. Frozen treats are mighty nice when it’s a 110 F (like it is at the moment I’m writing this, kid you not). With a little splash of whole milk mixed in with the fruit, you get a treat that’s not as heavy as ice cream, but also not as sweet as a sorbet. You get sherbet, the lovely middle ground that perfectly showcases citrus flavors in a frozen dessert.

Some quick notes before you begin:

This recipe gets a lot of its bulk from the blackberry pulp, not juice. This helps reduce the sugar content without sacrificing flavor. The pulp will keep the sherbet (no, not sorbet!) from freezing hard, which is also what sugar does.

To make the blackberry pulp you will need to cook your berries a little to soften them, before running them through a food mill. So you need to plan ahead because this part takes a little time (not much, I swear, and not hard!). See the instructions for how to do it in my blackberry-limeade recipe here.

You will also need to chill the blackberry pulp before mixing it in with the milk. If you don’t, the heat and acidity will cause the milk to curdle and you’ll have a gritty texture. Bleh. The curdling process is much slower when the ingredients are cold.

If you want to make a scoop-able sherbet, you’ll need to add more sugar to the mixture and use an ice cream maker. Also very tasty! I’ve included instructions for both options in the recipe!