An easy refreshing summer dessert. Vegan & gluten free.
This is the dessert I’m going to make all summer. With just 5 ingredients, it’s so easy! The best part is that (if you have a decent blender) no ice cream maker is required here. Just blend and freeze. It’s tart, sweet, and so so lovely with the little unexpected hint of mint.
Jack and I both love Montmorency tart cherries for many reasons (see all of these recipes that use them). They have some wonderful superfood qualities, they’re known to help soreness after a workout, and they’re a natural source of melatonin which helps regulate sleep. We love them most of all, of course, because they taste good!
This recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Even thought it’s very fruity and refreshing, it’s still a pretty decadent dessert. I love just a little scoop as a treat in the afternoon – or better yet, serve it along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert – the combination is heavenly.
You can serve this straight from the blender where it will be more like the texture of soft serve ice cream. I suggest letting it firm up in the freezer for 2-3 hours or overnight. If you freeze it overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving and it will scoop nicely.
Tart Cherry & Mint Sorbet
- 2 cups frozen Montmorency tart cherries
- ½ cup maple syrup* (see note)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- ¼ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Place the tart cherries, maple syrup, lemon juice, mint, coconut milk, water and salt in a high speed blender. Blend on low and gradually work up to high speed. Blend until the fruit is very smooth and thick, like the texture of soft-serve. (Don't overmix or your sorbet will start melting from the heat of the blender). If your cherries are too hard to blend, let them thaw for just a few minutes until your blender blade will move.
- Serve as soft-serve immediately or pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, about 2-3 hours or overnight. If the sorbet firms up overnight, let it sit at room temp for 15 minutes until it's scoop-able.
A high speed blender, like a Vitamix, will work best for this recipe.
I find tart cherries (sometimes called sour cherries) at Wheatsville Coop in Austin, and occasionally at Whole Foods.
Â
Did you use peppermint or spearmint?
I have never had a sorbet, so I am so very excited to try this recipe. I love the color and I know I am going to enjoy the taste, because who doesn’t love cherries and coconut milk.
Would sugar syrup or honey work in this recipe?
I think they would – the level of sweetness might differ, but I think it’d be ok to swap since they’re both liquid sugars.
Sounds great, and since tart cherries also are helpful for
arthritis pain, it’s one I want to whip up . However, I’d like
the nutritional info for this recipe, please. I need to know
what the carb,sugar, calorie , etc. counts are.
Thank you.
make my hot summer go away ! 5 star
🙂
Full fat coconut milk? Would light work, or perhaps the same amount of low-fat Greek yogurt?
Light or full fat both work – I haven’t tried it with yogurt so I’m not sure about that one..
The perfect summer sweet treat! This will definitely be my first homemade sorbet! http://www.chasingbelle.com
I made this last night and it was SO delicious! super easy to make too and so much better for me than custard based ice cream desserts. Thank’s so much for the recipe!
Hi Brittany – I’m so glad you liked it!
Forget the recipe. Your photos are delicious!
Giving a capital Y-E-S for this… all the way! Perfect for summer (and I am really, really excited for summer). This looks delicious!
Lisa Favre
http://marblecrumbs.com
Great flavor, but mine was liquid and had to be frozen for a few hours before it could be eaten. Not sure why . . . double checked quantities on all liquids, and I definitely didn’t blend it too long. I only froze the cherries for about 4 hours prior to using – maybe that’s it.
That being said, it took LOTS longer than 15 minutes to make the recipe. I spent 15 minutes just pitting the cherries. Then they had to be frozen. Then after blending, everything had to be frozen again. Total time start to finish about 7.5 hours. Mostly not active time, of course, but it takes some planning and isn’t something that can be whipped up in 15 minutes.
Hi Heather, so sorry that was unclear – I froze them overnight and let them thaw for just a few minutes before blending – the texture out of the blender was a soft sorbet texture which set fully after about 2-3 hours. So you’re right, I really meant that the hands-on time was easy – I didn’t mean to mislead, I’ll update the recipe to reflect…
What a great, easy recipe. Pinned!
Amazing very Detailed Photography!
Delicious recipe! I made it with frozen blackberries and used 1/2 cup of date paste because I was out of maple syrup– it turned out lovely!
Oh, love cherries but unfortunately they are hard to get here in DK:-)
Omg!!!I just tried this !! It’s so refreshing and the combo is delicious! I used unsweetened almond milk because I had no coconut milk but it still was delicious! This is going to be a regular in my kitchen!Next time I’ll try the coconut milk!Thanks so much for all your creative wonderful tasty recipes!!
This looks perfect for the summer! I love how you can do it in the blender and pop it into the freezer!
Yum!!! That sounds so delicious. I like that it wouldn’t be too sweet so that its easier to not eat as much.
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
This sounds sooo refreshing. I can certainly see me making this in the summer!
This looks amazing! But I have never seen tart cherries in a grocery store near me. I’m in the Boston area. Any suggestions?
Costco sells large bags of frozen organic tart cherries for a reasonable price. They are delicious & nutritious.