Creamy coconut sorbet with a splash of fresh lemon juice is a refreshing summer dessert. I like to serve it in lemon halves for a fun personal-sized treat that’s great for BBQs and other summer parties.
I’ve been making lots of sorbet this summer. It’s so refreshing and a light dessert that’s easy to make. My latest creation is a coconut sorbet with lemon that is creamy, cool and delicious. You can make a batch and serve it in regular bowls but it’s more fun to serve the sorbet in hollowed lemons. Just like my mini watermelon sorbet, it’s a fun presentation.
I developed this recipe for the Light and Refreshing Recipe Series with our local radio station, Smooth 98.1. It’s been a lot of fun getting a taste of the radio business and it’s such a thrill getting emails from various readers who hear the promo for the series. This is the last recipe I’m sharing in the series, so I really wanted something that screamed summer. And what better than a tropical coconut sorbet?
Ingredients
Ingredients- Chilled full-fat coconut milk
- Fresh lemon juice
- Granulated sugar
- Hollowed out lemon rinds
For the lemon rinds, the easiest way to hollow them out is to first slice them in half lengthwise. Run a small, sharp knife around the edge in the white pith. Use your fingers to pull out the flesh in one piece.
How to Make Coconut Sorbet
- Open the coconut milk and scoop out the cream portion at the top. Beat the cream with a mixer until it holds stiff peaks like you would to make whipped cream.
- Add the rest of the clear coconut milk, lemon juice and sugar and mix until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker* and churn it following your model’s recommendations.
- Rinse the hollowed-out lemon rinds and thoroughly dry them. Fill them with the sorbet and freeze them until the sorbet is firm. I usually freeze them the night before I want to serve them.
If you’re serving these for a party, wait to pull them out of the freezer until you want to serve them. As cute as they are lined up on a serving plate, they do melt fairly quickly.
If you want even more ideas for ice cream and sorbet recipes be sure to check out my post about how to make homemade ice cream.
*Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Lemon Coconut Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1 can full fat coconut milk chilled in fridge overnight
- juice of 2 small lemons
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar tailor to your taste
- approx 8-10 lemon half shells
Instructions
- Open can of coconut milk and remove the solid cream portion which should have separated from the coconut water. Blend at high speed until it begins to stiffen and form peaks like whipping cream. Add in the clear coconut milk, lemon juice and sugar. Blend until smooth. Pour the sorbet base into ice cream machine and let it churn according to manufacturing instructions.
- If using lemon shells to serve, slice lemons in half lengthwise and using a sharp knife, cut an outline around the flesh by cutting into the white rind portion, slightly outside of the flesh. Use fingers to dig into the white rind to scoop out the flesh (you can see my instructions from this post). Wash and dry empty shells before using. Scoop sorbet mixture directly into lemon shells and freeze to further solidify the sorbet.
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
This was so good!
We had a scoop of something similar during a trip to Point Reyes Station at a wonderful place called Osteria Stellina. I had been wanting to replicate it and this came really really close. What I think I’ll do next time is make two batches: one as described here (because it was devine) and another without the lemon juice.. Then, I’m going to swirl them together, like you would when mixing caramel into brownie batter. I think that would mimic what we had at Stellina.
We didn’t have time to get them into cute shells. The sorbet had a funny way of going from the spoon to my mouth. 🙂
Thank you for sharing!
sounds good! I love the idea of swirling
What a cute idea, serving this in lemon shells!
Hehe, I think it makes it a lot more fun =)
Oh I’m glad they didn’t melt!! Those lucky people at the radio station hehe. I’m always so envious when I listen to food-related podcasts because I can hear them eating ^^”
These are so adorable 🙂
Hehe, thanks! I actually brought them into the radio station since it was the last of the series and the whole time I was freaking out that they would melt and I hadn’t though it through. Luckily they didn’t!