Orange Sherbet

If sorbet and ice cream had a love affair, it would be sherbet. What once started as a chilled fruit drink in India called sharbat, sherbet has morphed into a delectable frozen dessert with, admittedly, a bit of a naming crisis: You’ve probably heard it called both sher-bert and sher-bet. Fun fact—both ways are technically correct! Sherbet is more common, but you do you. No matter how you say it, this is your sign to make it home. All you need are 5 ingredients and a few hours for this Creamsicle-inspired version. Top it with whipped cream for the perfect light and refreshing summer dessert.

Our top tip for making your orange sorbet the best it can be: Use fresh and concentrated orange juice. Not only will it turn sherbet a beautiful color, but it will brighten the flavor tenfold. Store-bought orange juice is often made from concentrate, giving it an overly sweet, single note flavor. We recommend using fresh for that classic, nostalgic orange taste, then punching it up with a little concentrate and sweetened condensed milk. Their high sugar content will guide the texture of the sherbet to be somewhere between an ice cream and a sorbet.

Orange sherbet is also a great dessert to serve all year round, whether as a palate cleanser for party guests between courses or as the perfect end to a light meal (you can even slurp spoonfuls in winter to soothe a scratchy throat!). Want to make it ahead? Once the sherbet has churned in the ice cream maker, transfer to a freezer-proof plastic or glass container with a lid to avoid freezer burn. It will keep for up to 1 month.

Made this recipe? Let us know how it went (and whether you’re a sher-bet or a sher-bert person) in the comments below.