Blood oranges can be pretty delightful when used in desserts. They are highly distinguishable from regular oranges thanks to their crimson colored pulp and bittersweet taste. That's also why they are often times used as a great substitute for recipes that call for the regular kind. I've already used them for my blood orange chiffon cake recipe.

For this occasion, I will show you how to make a blood orange sorbet. It's just like a regular orange sorbet but besides the obvious substitution, it will also have Campari to go along with it. This is a nice liqueur containing fruit and bitters which will go well with the blood oranges for this recipe.

The skinny on sorbet

A sorbet is a frozen dessert made much like ice cream except it contains no fat whatsoever. If you prefer the latter or at least something in between, try this recipe for an orange sherbet instead. When it comes to making sorbet, the process can be as clear cut as it is confusing. Let me explain: Most sorbet recipes consist of a combination of a liquid base (fruit puree, juice, wine, etc) and sweetener (sugar, honey, simple syrup, etc). The real problem is that there is no exact prerequisite on the base to sweetener ratio which can lead to confusion. Often times, however, the answer actually comes down to one's preference.

To make things really simple with this, just ask yourself (or the person you are serving) this question: How sweet do you want this sorbet to be?

That's it. The sugar content is all you really have to worry about with this dessert. If you just want a lightly sweet sorbet, for example, you can start with a 4:1 ratio of base to sweetener. Personally, I use this ratio as a jumping point for most of my desserts including the sorbet types and this recipe follows suit. Of course, you can add more sugar if you like.

Just don't go overboard whereas you increase the sugar volume to match or come close to that of the base.

The recipe

Ingredients

  • 6 blood oranges at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp Campari

Directions

  1. Wash the blood oranges and dry with a kitchen cloth. Cut the oranges in halves and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Remove any seeds from the bowl with a spoon and a strainer.
  2. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir the mixture until it fully dissolves. Continue cooking until the mixture starts to thicken. Set aside to cool.
  3. Pour the sugar syrup and Campari into the bowl and stir together with the juice. Pour the mixture into the cylinder of an ice cream maker and freeze as instructed.
  4. Serve the sorbet in scoops or transfer to a container and freeze for 8 hours or until completely frozen.

Serves: 6