Simple Cherry Sorbet

Recipe courtesy of Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz 

Ingredients 
4 cups (1 1/2 lb.) sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup water 
1 tblsp lemon juice 
1/2 tsp almond extract 

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cherries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries have softened and released their juices, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract. Let the mixture cool completely. 
2. Transfer the cherries and their syrup to a shallow container, cover, and freeze until firm, at least two hours. Once the cherry mixture has frozen completely, remove it from the freezer, break it up, and process it in a food processor fitted with a metal blade until completely smooth. Serve right away. 

For someone who doesn’t own an ice cream maker, frozen desserts are a category I rarely venture into. So when I discovered this recipe for cherry sorbet only requiring a freezer, I knew I must make it right away. I mixed up the ingredients in a matter of minutes, popped the mixture into the freezer for a few hours, and puréed it until smooth. Voilà! This dessert is simple, delicious, and can be endlessly adapted. You could use yellow peaches instead of sweet cherries and replace the almond extract with vanilla; pineapples and coconut extract would make for a lovely tropical combination. You could purée the fruit syrup before freezing, pour it into popsicle molds with a couple fresh cherry halves, and make homemade fruit pops. For a granita: freeze the sorbet as directed, crush it up with some shaved ice, add a splash of pure cherry juice, and top with a few sprigs of mint. Or grind two parts ice with one part sorbet for a refreshing slushy. No matter how you choose to prepare this quintessential summer dessert, I can guarantee that it will be a success.