Last week, Chris came back from an unsupervised day in Santa Barbara with a giant box full of oranges from a roadside stand (it was $11!).  We are on a serious orange kick in my house and surprisingly have powered through the whole box. Making this delightful sherbet definitely helped us knock down the pile. 

This sherbet utilizes freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh orange zest, and a little bit of milk for that creamsicle vibe that’s so fun for spring and summer.  It’s a super fresh and refreshing dessert, with the perfect amount of sweetness to make it feel indulgent.  Feel free to swap the milk for coconut milk or your favorite non-dairy option for a completely vegan take.  If you’re in a rush or don’t have a giant box of oranges to get through, starting with fresh or bottled orange juice will work in a pinch, but that ultimate fresh flavor really comes through by squeezing a few oranges at the start.

Recipe and photo down below!  This makes enough for 1 quart of sherbet, which in our house was about four nice servings of dessert (which did not last long!).  You can definitely make more and store in the freezer for later use, just be sure to take it out to thaw a bit before trying to scoop, as it does freeze up pretty hard.

Recipe: Fresh Orange Sherbet

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh orange juice (about 8-10 oranges)
• Zest from 2 oranges
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup sugar

Method:

1. Remove the zest from two oranges, then start juicing those oranges to make your three cups of fresh orange juice.  Continue juicing additional oranges until you reach three cups of delicious, fresh juice!  Add the orange zest to the orange juice, and stir to combine.
2. Add the sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved.  Immediately before churning, add the milk and stir just to combine.
   1. If it looks like the milk curdled slightly when adding to the orange juice, don’t worry!  This will all smooth out during the churning process and it will all be okay!  If you have very large, cheese-like clumps from using very old milk, it may be best to start over.
3. Pour the sherbet base that you just made into your ice cream machine.  Churn until it reaches the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, about 10-15 minutes.
4. Once frozen, transfer to bowls and enjoy immediately, or transfer to a large container and freeze for later use.
   1. This will freeze up to be pretty hard, so remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for about 15 minutes before serving for best results.  Better yet – pour sherbet into popsicle molds before freezing solid!
5. Enjoy!