Fresh Summer Sorbet

We spent the 4th of July at my in-laws' almond farm where we celebrated by swimming, playing and cooking in the hot San Joaquin Valley sunshine.  Their family is huge and so is the dinner spread: hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, and chips.  It is everything that the 4th of July should be.  I could eat most of the dinner items, but dessert was another matter.  Rather than be bitter about missing out on the Texas sheet cake and home-made banana ice cream, I decided ahead of time to make my own dessert.   As the sun set and the fireworks were being prepared on the lawn, I sat down to a refreshing bowl of peach sorbet.

This is my own recipe and it turned out even better than I expected!  Make some now, while you can find peaches and golden raspberries at the farmer's market.  This makes a big batch, but you might as well make a lot if you're going to get out the ice cream maker.  Go big or go home, as my sister would say.  You can cut it in half if your ice cream maker is smaller.

Fresh Peach Sorbet

8 medium very ripe peaches

1 half-pint basket golden raspberries

juice of 2 lemons

1 cup water

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ cup honey

Bring large pot of water to a boil.  Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water.  Boil peaches 1 minute to loosen skins.  Using a slotted spoon, remove peaches from pot and place in ice water.  Slip off skins. 

Puree raspberries in blender and strain out seeds.  Set raspberry puree aside and clean blender jar. 

Working over blender jar so you catch all the juices, pull peaches apart with your fingers and remove the pits.  Blend until very smooth.  Add raspberry puree and blend to combine.

In small saucepan, combine water, sugar, honey and lemon juice.  Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Stir into fruit puree.  Place covered jar in refrigerator to chill.

Prepare ice cream maker according to instructions.  When sorbet mixture is chilled, place in ice cream maker and process.  Sorbet will be soft-set when done.  Transfer to airtight container and place in freezer until firm.