Fresh Raspberry Sherbet

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 cup water*
2/3 cup agave nectar*
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 to 2 lemons
2/3 cup heavy cream

*The original recipe called for sugar instead of agave nectar. If you prefer, you may substitute 1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces) for the agave nectar and increase the water to 3/4 cup. All other ingredients and their quantities remain the same.

DIRECTIONS:

1. In medium saucepan, combine fresh raspberries, water, agave nectar (or sugar), and salt.

2. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to simmer, about 7 minutes.

3. Pass mixture through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. (Note from Holli: I started to do this step, but then decided that I would like the entire berry in the sherbet, and dumped the contents from the strainer back into the liquid.)

4. Add lemon juice; cover with plastic wrap and chill in freezer until very cold, about 40 degrees. Do not let mixture freeze.

5. When mixture is cold, using whisk, whip cream in medium bowl until soft peaks form.

6. Whisking constantly, add juice mixture in steady stream, pouring against edge of bowl.

7. Immediately start ice cream machine and add juice/cream mixture to canister; churn until sherbet has texture of soft-serve ice cream, 25-30 minutes.


8. Remove canister from machine and transfer sherbet to storage container; press plastic wrap directly against surface of sherbet and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. To serve, let sherbet stand at room temperature until slightly softened.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated; Modifications mine.

Yields: 1 quart. Each 1/4 cup serving contains: Calories 72; Total Fat 2.0g; Saturated Fat 1.2g; Cholesterol 7mg; Sodium 30mg; Total Carbohydrates 14.2g; Dietary Fiber 1.5g; Sugars 1.1g; Protein 0.4g; Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin C 12%; Calcium 1%; Iron 1%

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