Pomegranate Ginger Sorbet
Happy Friday! I made you guys some sorbet. There’s some booze in there too. I figure at this point in the week, we kinda deserve it. Don’t you?
This sorbet is incredibly easy to make. Ridiculously simple, in fact. All you need is 100% pomegranate juice and sugar. You could certainly stop there and make a regular, normal pomegranate sorbet, but I decided to make it a bit extra special and add a couple other ingredients.
It takes it from good sorbet to “woh…what’s in the that?” sorbet. Much better, right?
In this case, those extra ingredients include fresh ginger and St. Germain elder flower liqueur.
The ginger adds just the right amount of of zing to every spoonful–and the elder flower liqueur helps cut the sweetness and adds a slightly floral note, without being totally over the top. For those not into booze, I promise, it doesn’t make the end result boozy in the slightest. And they work so well together!
Obviously, a lot of us don’t need an excuse to add booze to sorbet. But if you want to get technical (and have an additional excuse), it also has the added bonus of helping keep the sorbet smoother and softer once frozen, since alcohol itself does not freeze. This avoids the whole icy, impossible to scoop sorbet that we’ve all known and experienced.
Technically, since most of us are lucky enough to have access to pomegranate juice year-round–you could totally make this sorbet at any time of the year. Summer, fall, spring, winter. It is totally doable.
But, that’s sort of the equivalent of making a pumpkin pie smack dab in the middle of July. Sure, you technically could. We all have that hoarded can of pumpkin in the back our pantry at all times of the year. But it’s just not right. Don’t do it!
Once actual whole pomegranates arrive in the store (i.e. NOW!), then you can go ahead and bust out the pomegranate juice.
Plus, what’s the fun in making pomegranate sorbet if you don’t have fresh pomegranate arils to garnish it with? Prettiest.fruit.ever.
If you’re wondering how to get those lovely arils out of the fruit, I’m here to help. And I’ve literally tried every method in the book…
Slicing and hitting the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon (verdict: gets the arils out sort of…but totally destroys them in the process).
Cutting a cone into the top and scoring lightly along the ridges to break into segments (verdict: I don’t think pomegranate ridges are always so obvious, so its not incredibly effective, but I recently stumbled upon this video…so I might have to try it again)
And lastly, the under-water-method, which I’m convinced is still the best way. The membranes float and the seeds sink to the bottom of bowl–making it faster and less messy. Here are some lovely step-by-step photos.
The resulting pomegranate ginger sorbet is refreshingly light, with just the right amount of tartness. Once again, I just love the ginger and elder flower–so please, please, please don’t skimp out on either of those (but yes, the alcohol is technically optional).
It would work perfectly as a dessert for a heavier meal. You could even make it ahead of time and serve it as a healthier (vegan) dessert alternative at Thanksgiving or Christmas!
I would probably just have it in addition to everything else, but that’s just me. Enjoy!
Pomegranate Ginger Sorbet
This pomegranate ginger sorbet is refreshingly light, with just the right amount of tartness!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger
- 2 cups (100%) pomegranate juice (such as POM)
- 1 tablespoon + 1.5 teaspoons St. Germain liqueur (optional, but highly recommended)
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, water, and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until sugar has fully dissolved.
- Set aside in heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to cool completely in refrigerator–which should take about 20-30 minutes, roughly.
- Once the simple syrup has chilled, strain through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the ginger chunks (discard).
- Whisk together the pomegranate juice, simple syrup, and St. Germain liqeuor in large bowl.
- Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturers directions–the sorbet is ready when it resembles the texture of a thick slushy.
- Place sorbet in an airtight container (cover surface with plastic wrap) and freeze for an addition 4-6 hours (or overnight, ideally) to firm up. Garnish with fresh pomegranate arils.
Notes
St.Germain is available at spirit and liqueur stores.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 176 Total Fat: 0g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 49mg Carbohydrates: 44g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 43g Protein: 0g
P.S. I promise not to mention Christmas again for at least another few weeks…I think. Don’t hold me to that.
Umm, I adore this sorbet! And I do not typically use the word adore, but it just fits because I love pomegranates and are obsessed with them every single year! I love that you added ginger (my favorite holiday spice, well maybe cinnamon is, but ginger second!) and obviously, some booze! I am not a drinker at all, but I love adding booze to my sweets. It just makes them that much better!
Oh and I am all about the underwater method. Thanks for linking my how-to-post!
Yay! So glad that you like it, Tieghan! I’m sort of obsessed with pomegranates too. Adding booze to sweets is the best–it helps cut the sweetness and really adds so much more flavor. I loved that post with step-by-step photos! Happy to link to it! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Gorgeous! I love how simple this is! Plus, the addition of ginger sounds amazing (and yes, yes I think we do really need that little boost of liqueur at this point in the week – lol!!!) Also love your fab tips for wrestling those arils out – super-helpful! Really wonderful post, Laura! Pinning ASAP! 😀
It really is SO simple. I mean, I guess all sorbets are, but this one especially. Thank you so much Shelley! You’re the sweetest.
This is an exciting recipe! St. Germain is my most favorite liquere. It works so well in several cocktail recipes I have. I can’t wait to try it in this sorbet this weekend. Thanks for sharing.
I think you could actually make a really wonderful cocktail with all of these ingredients! I’m sort of tempted to pour some sparkling water over it and go to town 🙂 Thank you Van! Please report back if you try it!
Loving the recipe and especially the color of this sorbet!! Simple and stunning!
Thank you so very much, Meghan. Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Great combo Laura!
Thanks Pippa!
Yes, we deserve the booze! These photos are absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
Thank you, thank you! Pomegranates are so fun to photograph.
This sounds so crisp and refreshing. Much needed after all the halloween candy I’ve been polishing off. And thanks for the deseeding pomegranite tip, I’ve never tried it that way but seems much easier than picking all the arils out.
Yes! Definitely a nice break from halloween candy or heavier desserts. Definitely try the under-water method, it is SO much easier than picking out the arils by hand. Thanks Natalie!
Love this boozy pom sorbet, Laura! Just pure perfection for this time of year. Thanks for sharing, girl. Have a wonderful autumn weekend! Pinning tonight (of course)!
Thanks so much Stacy! You too! And thanks for pinning 😉
This looks incredible. I love anything with ginger…and certainly anything with St. Germaine! I will definitely be trying this one out over the holidays. I also love your styling of the shot with the pom fruit in front of the bottles of yumminess. Beautiful!
Yes! This was definitely an experiment with combining ginger and elder flower, but they work so well together. I think it was meant to be 🙂 Let me know if you try it!! Thanks so much!
Mmm…I love pomegranate this time of year, and the addition of the elderflower liqueur sounds too, too good!
Thank you Jillian! Always look forward to your comments 🙂
Growing up they gave me grenadine (pomegranate flavored syrup) with water, the most fake flavor ever! I think I discovered real pomegranated a few years ago. And decided to seed one for the first time with a brand new white shirt… the under water method is the best, so true. And booze in a sorbet, I love it, it never completely solidifies, it’s awesome! The ginger sounds amazing.
Yikes–definitely not quite the same as pomegranate juice 😉 Ha! Yep, white shirts and pomegranates definitely don’t mix. Although when I used to deseed pomegranates at the restaurant, I was always wearing white….so I totally know the feeling. It doesn’t come out easily, that’s for sure! Thanks so much Paula!
You crack me up!! I agree though, we all deserve a little booze after a long week! 😉 This sorbet looks to die for!!
Thank you Kristi! 🙂
Mmm, I love this recipe. It looks and sounds so refreshing.
This looks absolutely gorgeous. I immediately want to say: grown up sorbet floats, with champagne please.
Yes!!! I had that idea too!! Still have some left… 😉
Boozy sorbet? I am so in! This looks great!
Yay! So happy to hear that. Thanks! 🙂
I am a BIIGGGG pom fan and I love that you boozed and froze it up for a fun sweet treat!!
Here’s to boozing up more recipes in the future! 😉
Your pictures are so beautiful, love that vibrant color! Even though it’s cold out, I still want a big scoop of this sorbet!
Thank you so much Pamela! I know it’s a bit cold for sorbet, but couldn’t resist 😉
Holy – what a fabulous combination!! I need to try this recipe – even though it’s below freezing today!
I made this on Sunday for dessert – it turned out great (and beautiful, too.)
Rachel
Hi Rachel! So glad to hear that you made it and enjoyed it. Did you make any changes??
This sounds like exactly what I want right now! I love pomegranate, and totally agree, it is definitely the prettiest fruit.
Let me know if you try it!!! 🙂
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I LOVE pomegranates and must make this right now before they are gone from the store. Thank you! Also, could you answer a blog question? What recipe plug-in do you use? Thanks so much and I’ll let you know how the sorbet goes!
Hi Amy! I actually am a partner with Ziplist, but since I got my blog redesigned, I don’t use the actual plugin (and have a custom format). But they do have a Ziplist plugin for WordPress! Hope this helps. Be sure to let me know what you think of the sorbet.
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Holy gaucamole! This recipe is so simple and insanely good! I didn’t have St Germaine, so I used champagne, and I added frozen pomegranate arils. Both of my roommates are crazy for it and think I’m a kitchen genius… I mean they aren’t wrong, but still. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing recipe.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it, especially since this is an oldie on the site! Thanks Corinna!