Lemon-Thyme Sorbet

I have problems digesting lactose, so ice cream is verboten in my diet. I hate this because I love ice cream as much as the next person. Unfortunately, that love is unrequited. And so, for decades now, I have concentrated on making delicious sorbets. I made a different flavor each night at the restaurant as an intermezzo in our tasting menu.

It requires little imagination to understand that I became bored and weary of certain flavors, especially single-flavor sorbets with my chef palate running to multi-layered flavors. Thus, I experimented with unusual flavors and herbs in creating something that at first bite tasted of fruit, but yet delivered something else entirely as the sorbet melted onto the tongue. Think: zucchini-dill, apricot-rosemary, raspberry-chipotle, and so forth. In that vein, for our recent Fourth of July celebration, Ann and I chose lemon-thyme as a mouth-puckering acidic punch-in-the-face counterpoint to her delightful summer berry pudding.

Lemon-Thyme Sorbet with Summer Berry Pudding

I am not a pastry chef, so I really do not worry terribly about the kinds of sorbet things that pastry chefs do, such as creating the perfect 28 brix syrup. Yawn, right? At home, I keep it simple, measuring both the sugar and the liquid by volume, a no-no for certain in pastryland. But, easy? Darned straight.

Lemon-Thyme Sorbet

This recipe is really easy as long as you commit to squeezing all that lemon juice. A liter of juice represents the juice of probably 24 lemons and with a hand squeezer like mine, it is a work out. If you cannot commit to squeezing lemons, find some other flavor to make, because any substitute for fresh lemon juice will taste off.

This recipe makes two liters of sorbet, the size of my machine; quarts are fine substitutes. This recipe scales up or down just fine. Although a machine gives the best results (I have a professional machine that is muy cara), you can freeze this sorbet in a flat container in the freezer, raking the ice crystals apart periodically with a fork. Adding a shot of vodka will help prevent big ice crystals from forming.

1 liter granulated sugar

3/4 liter water

1 bunch fresh thyme

zest of 6 lemons

1 liter freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a 2-quart sauce pan, heat the sugar, water, and thyme and let it bubble gently for about five minutes to start infusing the thyme flavor.

Turn off the heat, and add the lemon zest to the cooling mixture. Stir well and let stand for a couple of hours to infuse.

Strain the syrup and the lemon juice into a bowl or container and mix well. Refrigerate until cold.

Freeze the sorbet once the base is cold.