Cucumber Lime Sorbet
Prep: 20 Minutes | Cook: 0 Minutes | Churning Time: 20-30 Minutes | Hardening Time: 4 Hours
Total: 5 Hours
Makes 1.5 Pints
Ingredients
1.5 C simple syrup (1:1 Sugar / Water)
1.5 C cucumber juice (about 3 cucumbers)
Juice of 1 Lime
1 tsp Kosher Salt
Note: This recipe uses a churning ice cream machine. If you don’t have a churning ice cream machine, I have not tested this as a no-churn recipe.
Recipe Summary
Make simple syrup by heating up 1:1 ratio of water and sugar and cool
Shred and strain cucumbers which will yield ~1.5 C of cucumber juice
Mix cooled simple syrup, cucumber juice, lime juice and salt. Churn in an ice cream machine until it becomes the texture of Italian Ice
Recipe
Make simple syrup by heating up 2 cups of water in a pot on medium heat. Add equal parts sugar and stir until the water is fully dissolved. Transfer the simple syrup to a container and chill in the fridge.
Shred 3 cucumbers and strain juice. Squeeze cucumbers to extract all juice from the cucumbers.
Mix together simple syrup, cucumber juice, lime juice, and salt. Place in an ice cream maker under the sorbet setting and churn until it achieves the texture of Italian ice.
Why the Recipe Works
Sorbet is inherently refreshing, as are cucumbers and limes. The ratios provided make a perfect mix of refreshing sorbet without being overly sweet. Lime juice adds a different dimension of sweetness from the sugar, bitterness, and sourness which round out the flavor of the sorbet.
Because there are so few ingredients in sorbet, it’s important that each of the ingredients create a distinct imprint on the final product. Slight sweetness from the simple syrup, refreshing cucumbers, and a slight tang from the lime juice creates a sorbet that gives enough variety in every bit to be eaten endlessly in the heat of the summer.
The green hue from the cucumber juice adds to the refreshing taste by providing a naturally occuring, visually pleasing color.