A homemade Cranberry Orange Sorbet with spices and homemade almond milk makes for a refreshing, not too sweet, dessert winter or summer.
Cranberry Season
While cranberry season is typically autumn into winter, cranberries can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, all year.
When the stores of filled with bags of fresh cranberries, I buy lots, and get to work prepping the berries for the various recipes I love them in.
Some of the cranberries will get simmered into a compote and used to serve with a turkey dinner, or topped on a favorite cheesecake with chocolate antlers.
Other bags of cranberries will get pureed, uncooked, frozen in containers for summertime recipes, or a favorite Cranberry Almond bread.
Cranberry Orange
The sour bite of a cranberry marries beautifully with the sweetness of an orange, with very little sugar or sweeteners to round out the flavors.
If you are one to look forward to cranberry quick breads in the fall, you will love my Cranberry and Orange Blossom Muffins!
I couldn’t help but to make cranberry and orange the star in this sorbet recipe, but to give it one more dimension, I added Homemade Almond Milk.
Why almond milk? Almonds have a delicate, sweet yet nutty flavor and added something creamy to the acidity of the cranberries and oranges, without being a dairy cream.
Cranberry Orange and Almond Milk Sorbet
Can I call this a sorbet when I’ve added a milk to it? Darn right I can because homemade almond milk is nothing more than crushed almonds and water!
Once the cranberries are cooked and cooled, the almond milk goes in and they freeze into a beautiful, slightly creamy textured sorbet. Yet, still a sorbet.
You might even consider serving this sorbet as a palate cleanser when serving several courses, and right after a fatty meat course. While a palate cleanser is often mild in flavor it usually has acidity to cleanse the tongue of meat fats.
Sorbet In Winter?
Absolutely, a sorbet in the winter! We often eat the heaviest meals of the year in the winter and so a refreshing sorbet is a welcome dessert instead of more heavy desserts.
If you are a regular drinker of cranberry juice, or add dried cranberries to your granola or Energy Bites/Bars, you know cranberries aid in digestion; perfect for winter meals.
Cranberries are also high in vitamin C, toss in the orange juice in this sorbet and I think you could practically call it a winter health aid!
Cranberry Orange Sorbet Is So Easy To Make
I have approached this sorbet making process from two ways:
- When I have lots of homemade cranberry compote leftover from the holiday table, I will use it in this sorbet recipe.
- Otherwise, I cook the cranberries with a little sugar, orange juice, some warm spices and have it ready to make into this sorbet recipe.
Once the cranberries are softened and sweetened, I simply add the almond milk, chill the mixture and then pour into an ice cream maker.
It takes about 20 minutes to have freshly made sorbet, once the mixture has been prepped and chilled.
The sorbet can be served right away, or portioned out into individual servings and frozen for a later time.
Equipment Needed
- Small saucepan
- Measuring spoons
- Citrus zester
- Food processor or blender
- Container with a spout, that holds up to 3 cups of liquid
- Ice cream maker
- Ice cream scoop
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh cranberries
- Sugar
- Orange – both the juice and zest
- Cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Almond milk
Cranberry Orange Sorbet
Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries – 1 1/2 cups
- Sugar – 1/2 cup
- Fresh orange juice – 1/4 cup
- Orange zest – 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon – 1 tbsp
- Ground cloves – 1/4 tsp
- – 1 cup
Instructions
- In a saucepan, simmer the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, zest and spices until the cranberries are soft and the sugar has completely dissolved, about 15 minutes. Cool.
- Pour into a food processor or blender and puree.
- Transfer to a pourable bowl or container, add the almond milk, whisk and chill for several hours.
- With an ice cream maker running, pour the chilled cranberry mixture in and allow the machine to run for about 20 minutes.
- The sorbet can now be served, transferred into a closed container, or scooped into individual portions and popped into the freezer until ready to serve. This method makes it easier to serve.
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I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
