Making Sorbet is just the easiest thing to do!!!

Sorbet making is a skill and only the good chefs can make it. Or else, this is what I have always believed. Every summer, I get so inspired by all the fresh berries and fruit, but my enthusiasm is soon dampened by my fear of making a flop.... (character flaw, I know!) I even have an ice-cream maker so I really do not have a valid excuse for not trying to make sorbet sooner, but the good news is that .........I TRIED....and I CONQUERED....... I made my first batch of strawberry and basil sorbet!!! Now, I am hooked on sorbet and I cannot wait to try my hand at lemon, orange, pear and all the other lovely flavors that I see here in the bloggersphere.
According to Wikipedia, sorbet is a frozen dessert, made with sweetened water and iced fruit. Basically that is exactly what it is, but you can also add alcohol which lowers the freezing temperature, resulting in a softer texture. Whereas ice-cream is mostly made with dairy products, sorbet is mostly water-based and is therefor a better option to have when watching your fat intake.
In Italy a very similar product "granita" is made. It is crunchier in texture because of the freezing process. As it freezes, large ice crystals is formed and granita is also often scraped with a fork to give an even crunchier texture when served. These large crystals should however not be present in a good sorbet. If you do not have an ice-cream machine, just use a fork and lightly beat the sorbet every hour or so while it is busy freezing, that will break up the crystals...
I got this recipe from a fellow Food24 food blogger, Angeliqueca. The recipe sounded easy enough and it was just the inpiration I needed to get started. So without further ado, here then is my first ever sorbet.......

Strawberry and Basil sorbet

Ingredients

3 cups strawberries
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup sugar
4T. lemon juice
1 T. vodka
about 1 leaf of basil - you only want a subtle hint of basil!

Put the sugar, water and basil leaf in a pot and heat slowly to melt the sugar. Bring the syrup to a boil and boil for about 3 minutes. Remove the basil and cool the syrup. While the syrup is boiling, puree the strawberries in a blender and strain if you don't want the pips. I like the texture it gives to the end product. Combine the puree with the lemon juice and vodka, then stir in the sugar syrup. You can now transfer this mixture to your ice-cream maker and churn until ready or pour into a plactic container and freeze. Every hour just beat the mixture with a fork to break up the ice crystals. Place back in freezer.
Serve this delicious sorbet as an in-between-courses palate cleanser or as part of a Trio of sorbets....I am going to do this for Christmas...pear, grannadilla and some kind of berry sorbet!!!