It’s easy to make sugar-free sorbet.
Photo by Dusan Zidar | BSP.

If you’re on a sugar-free diet and miss sorbet, you can make it with unsweetened fruit juice or puréed fruit.

Sugar or no sugar, sorbet is a better choice in general than ice cream: it’s fat free, cholesterol free and full of nutritious fruit. Whether you want a sugar-free or a sugared dessert, make some from delicious fall fruits. We adore apple and pear sorbets. Clementine/orange/tangerine, cranberry, grapefruit, kiwi and persimmon are other fall favorites.

For a juice-based sorbet:

• Freeze 2 liters of unsweetened juice in your ice cream maker, along with artificial sweetener equivalent to one cup of sugar (you can adjust the sweetener to taste—the less you use, the better).
• Sweeten with maltitol, a low-glycemic sweetener that can be purchased online in crystal or syrup form. Splenda is a good second choice.

• Experiment with spices—cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla, for example; fresh basil or mint, which compliment most fruits; or a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice.
• Think about the presentation—which dish or glass plus garnish—that will make your sorbet look irresistible.

To make sorbet with fresh or frozen fruit:

• Dissolve 2/3 cup sugar or non-caloric equivalent in 2/3 cup boiling water. Chill syrup.
• Purée 4 cups fruit to yield 2 cups fruit purée. Sieve fruit as necessary (to remove berry or kiwi seeds, for example).
• Mix sugar syrup into fruit.
• Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.

Find more sorbet recipes in our Gourmet Ice Cream Section.