Fresh Strawberry Sorbet & Shortbread

I can't help but be in summer mode right now. I realize it's technically not summer until June 21st, but dude, I live in AZ! It's been summer here already for about a month now. Sad but true. Still, I have nothing but love for you Arizona!

If someone were to ask me what my favorite desserts are, that would be an easy question for me to answer. Hands down, any kind of frozen dessert. ANY KIND! Ice cream, gelato, custard, sorbet, popsicles........ If it was made to be frozen, chances are this girl right here will love it. And it really doesn't even need to be hot or warm outside for me to be in the mood for a cold dessert. I will eat ice cream in the snow. And have before. It's never a bad time for ice cream!

With that being said, it's really no surprise that our ice cream maker is considered one of our favorite appliances. We leave the part of the ice cream maker that needs to be frozen in our freezer all year long, that way we can be ready to mix up a batch at a moments notice. I highly recommend this by the way:)

As soon as I saw beautiful summer strawberries in the markets I grabbed them with one purpose in mind. Fresh Strawberry Sorbet.  This is already my 3rd batch. I just love it so!

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet print

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 cups quartered fresh strawberries (about 18 oz)

3 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice  

Directions:

-Combine the water and sugar in medium saucepan. stir over med-high heat until the sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Chill sugar mixture until cold.

-Meanwhile, puree strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Add lime juice and sugar mixture to the pureed strawberries. Chill mixture until cold, about an hour.
-Transfer the strawberry mixture into your ice cream maker and process according to the ice cream maker's instructions. (usually about 20 minutes in any maker)
-Once done, transfer into covered container and chill in freezer until for about four hours.

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter

Directions:

-Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the ½ cup butter into cubes and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Knead the dough until a ball forms.  

-To make the cookies you can use any cutters you have or a springform pan to form the dough into a disk which you can later cut into wedges. The choice is yours, use your imagination!
-Bake time will depend on the size and shape of the cookies you choose. Bake until pale golden.

Here are the cutters that I decided to use. To spell out 'summer' and 'love' I used tiny letters that are made for clay impressions, but I have always used them for cake decorating purposes. That's another tip I can give you. When working with fondant or gum paste, always check the modeling clay sections at craft stores. They have great tools that can be used for cakes and whatnot.

Now go! Make, eat, and enjoy.

And try to stay cool this hot summer :)