favorite lemon sorbet recipe?

just got an ice cream maker and am looking for a delicious lemon sorbet recipe...the ones i tried have not been too spectacular.

anybody have any recipes they care to share?

thanks!!

[Bruce Heihn]

It has been almost 2 years since you asked the question. Did you ever find a good lemon sorbet recipe? I just got an Ice Cream Maker and I am looking to make it for my wife (her favorite).

[paulj]

One I like infuses half the syrup with lemon and lemon zest, the other half with rosemary, then combines them.
paulj

My favorite is the lemon buttermilk sorbet recipe from Epicurious (link below). Simple to make, delicious and a bit different. Next time I think I will throw some lime in as well.

Link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[sogi]

I totally agree that this is a super-easy, tasty recipe - except that I cut down the sugar from 2 cups to 1 1/2 cups, and still found it to be too sweet (tho my guests loved it this way). I would recommend starting with 1 cup and working your way up to achieve desired sweetness.

[katecm]

I love buttermilk and lemon together. I don't follow a recipe for the sorbet because I change it depending on if it is standalone (sweeter) or on top of something else (I keep it a bit tarter for blueberry pie).

Just mix buttermilk with sugar and lemon zest to taste. That's all! Throw it in your ice cream maker and you're good to go. It's outstanding. Much more sophisticated than plain lemon.

Can you say which recipes you've tried and why you didn't like them? I've used a Zuni recipe for lemon sorbet but modified it for limes. It was quite nice but very, very potent and on the icy side. The kind of sorbet that you dole out in a small mound for an intermezzo or palate cleanser. I served it below w/ thinly-sliced plums which was inspired by an amuse bouche I ate at an upscale restaurant. Let me know if you want the Zuni recipe, and I'll post it later this weekend.

Image: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/...

I can tell you which one not to use - Marcella Hazan's lemon gelato calls for what seems like a scant amount of cream, but we all found it overwhelming, and I ended up throwing it all away.

Oh, that's too bad. Was this from Essentials or another book? It is called gelato (not sorbet) which means it will have some dairy. I wonder if your lemons weren't that ripe or flavorful? Did you try adding more lemon juice and/or zest to the base?

It is from Marcella's Italian Kitchen. She has you take the rind from 2 lemons (approx 1/4 cup) and boil in 3/4 cup water with 1/2 c sugar and 1/3 c lemon juice for 2 minutes and strain. Then cool and add cream. It was a ridiculously small amount, and the 1/3 cup heavy cream just made it too rich. The lemon flavor was fine, but the creaminess was overwhelming.

Not a recipe, but if you're making simple syrup for your sorbet, try infusing some lemon zest in it for an extra lemon dimension. Also I like a little bit of lime juice in a lot of lemon things.

When making lemon sorbet I usually juice 1 lime for every 5 lemons, I love the flavor.

I also like to infuse a bit of herb. Lemon thyme is my favorite.