Strawberry Balsamic Sorbet

Sorbet, gelato, frozen yogurt, granita... the non ice cream alternatives abound. Sorbet is the purest of the frozen delicacies, combining mainly fruit and sugar, with the occasional pinch of salt or squirt of lemon juice. This was going to be the way to satisfy my sweet tooth without serving up a helping of unhealthy, albeit tasty, fat based frozen treat.

A few disclaimers before you read any further. 1. I do not own an ice cream maker. As many recipes call for "following the directions provided by your ice cream maker manufacturer", it left me out in the cold. No pun intended. If you do have an ice cream maker, by all means use it. 2. Surprise suprise, I've never made sorbet before. Two to three ingredients, no fancy combination or mixing techniques, how hard can it be?

Strawberries and chocolate are hands down my favorite berry and sweet combination. This however, runs a close second.

There is something to be said for the purity of using just three ingredients to produce something so refreshingly simple and delicious. I chose not to strain the strawberry seeds out of the sorbet base, however if your preference is the smooth frozen texture of sorbet, invest in a fine mesh strainer. The flavor was intensely strawberry, and not too sweet as I feared with that amount sugar. Surprisingly, the balsamic flavor shone through much more pre-freeze than in the finished product. I loved the contrast of the sweet berry and the luxe richness of the balsamic. I will up the balsamic content in the next attempt. This was so simple and so delicious, I'll certainly be trying other flavorful sorbet combinations soon.