Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade Sorbet

At last year's ice cream party, Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet was a big hit with the kids.  I thought I'd add a twist this year and add some rhubarb which I adore.  The vegetable is often paired with strawberry to provide a tart punch. Because rhubarb season is fleeting, I chop it into 1" pieces and freeze as much as I can.

Most simple syrup recipes have you boil water and sugar together to dissolve the sugar quickly.  But you can also just let the mixture sit at room temperature, stir every now and then and the sugar will eventually dissolve which is what I've done in this recipe.  Replacing part of the sugar with corn syrup makes the sorbet less icy.

To retain more of rhubarb's lovely ruby red color, I baked the rhubarb instead of cooking it over the stove.


Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade Sorbet 
Makes approximately 1 quart

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare simple syrup.  In a 2-cup pyrex glass measuring cup, combine:
1/4 cup water 
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Stir occasionally until sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 - 15 minutes.  You can do this while you are preparing the rest of the sorbet.

Place in a glass baking dish:
3/4 lbs rhubarb, chopped into 1" pieces (approximately 2 1/2 cups)

Cover with:
1/3 cup sugar

And tuck in a few pieces of:
orange peel (optional), shaved off with vegetable peeler.  Don't include the bitter white part.

Cover dish with foil, but make sure rhubarb does not touch foil.  The acidity in the rhubarb will react with the aluminum to turn the rhubarb gray and give it a metallic taste.  Yuk!  To avoid this situation, you can also first cover dish with a sheet of parchment paper then cover with foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 min (40 min if using frozen rhubarb pieces) or until sugar has dissolved and rhubarb is very soft.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Remove the orange peels then puree the baked rhubarb along with any juices, either in a blender, food processor or using a stick blender. Transfer pureed rhubarb to a large bowl and set aside while you prepare the strawberries.

In a blender or food processor, puree with the simple syrup:
1/2 lb strawberries, fresh or frozen (approx. 1 cup whole strawberries)
1/3 cup lemon juice

Add strawberry puree to the rhubarb puree, stirring to combine the two thoroughly.  Chill overnight and then churn in ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions.  Transfer to chilled airtight container and freeze for 4 hours.

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