Swoon-worthy Strawberry Mint Sorbet

  

 I did warn you that I would put this up. It is not my own recipe, it came in the book with my new ice cream maker. I simply took the liberty of adding mint to the simple syrup and the puree. I love the added freshness that herb gives.
     I have to confess to ya'll, I am not a great ice cream maker. I have some fabulous recipes that taste amazing...when they turn out. I had an okay rate of success with our electric maker when I first got it. But steadily after it seemed to not want to make  ice cream. In my last effort I churned the stuff for almost three hours, adding ice and salt like a man shoveling coal to a steam engine. Then Hubby started added ice and salt, certain I wasn't being liberal enough. It never hardened. I ended up making semifreddo out of it and it was good. 
    I can make a mean semifreddo (doesn't require a machine) and really yummy granita (also doesn't require a machine.... do you see a pattern here?). I was certain that I would never be an accomplished churner, but then! I discovered this cute little baby ice cream maker, the Oster 1.5 qt. ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet maker at the local Wally World.
     NO ICE, NO SALT! You read that right and if you're anything like me you can do your little happy dance of rejoicing. You simply freeze the canister and then put it in the machine to churn, and it actually turns out! I never remembered to have bags of ice when I wanted to freeze stuff, but with this thing you just keep the little canister in the freezer and you are ready whenever. Yes, it does make a much lesser amount than traditional churns, but to me that is a plus. I am not a huge ice cream fan and so that just means you eat it up fast and get to try a different flavor. 
    Okay, on to the recipe. Which, by the way, says you can use fresh or frozen berries. I am not going to waste my fresh berries by freezing them, so I got the plastic tubs of frozen berries. It took two of the tall containers to be enough. Okay, I really did say, "on to the recipe":

 Strawberry-mint sorbet
4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) berries    
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
4-5 heads of mint

combine the sugar, water and 3-4 heads mint in a small saucepan.

Heat to boiling, then simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool completely. I drained the thawed strawberries in my colander over a bowl so I could collect the syrupy juices.

Puree the drained berries and 1 head of mint in a blender or food processor.

Combine this with the simple syrup. I put it all in the fridge to get nice and chilly (extra precaution!). Then pour into bowl and freeze.

 This is absolutely perfect to eat the second it is finished. However, I made some for a party and when I took it out the next day it was rock-hard! I left it on the counter while I was prepping the meal, squishing it every so often to break up the hard parts. When it was softened I stuck it in the fridge to keep cold till just after the meal. It was the perfect consistency. If you love a completely fresh fruit tasting sorbet you should try this!

And, as an added bonus I had the sweetened juice that drained off the berries.

 I put it in a bottle and kept it it the fridge to add to ginger ale or water. I drink this with a straw (which makes it seem even more special) because the fruity pulp settles some and if you drink from the bottom up the whole glass will taste of strawberry, instead of having a watery top. 

"Strawberries are the angels of the green earth, innocent and sweet with leafy wings reaching heavenward." ~ Terri Guillemets