Rainbow Sherbet — orange, lime and raspberry in one scoop

i. Origin & history

'Sherbet' has travelled a long way. The word comes, like sorbet, from the Turkish şerbet and Persian and Arabic words for a sweet drink, and in the Ottoman world sharbat were chilled fruit and flower syrups. In Britain, 'sherbet' came to mean a fizzy sweet powder; in the United States it settled on a frozen fruit dessert with a little dairy, and American federal food standards define sherbet by its low milkfat content — between 1 and 2 per cent, against at least 10 per cent for ice cream.

American soda fountains and ice-cream parlours served fruit sherbets from the late nineteenth century, and orange, lime, raspberry and pineapple were the classic flavours. Packing several flavours in one container became popular with mass-produced ice cream in the twentieth century — the same era that produced Neapolitan's stripes of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Rainbow sherbet, with its bands or swirls of orange, lime and raspberry, became a supermarket staple from around the 1950s and has stayed one, made by most major American ice-cream brands.

It has an important social role in the United States as the base of sherbet punch: scoops of rainbow sherbet floated in a bowl of ginger ale or lemon-lime soda and fruit juice, a standard at baby showers, church functions and children's parties. The colours also made it a favourite in cones at summer stands, alongside the snow cone.

Many Americans say and even write 'sherbert', with an extra r. It is a very old and widespread pronunciation, but the dictionary spelling is sherbet.

ii. What the milk does — and how to stop it curdling

The small amount of dairy is what makes sherbet sherbet. Milk proteins and fat interrupt the formation of ice crystals and trap a little more air during churning, so sherbet is softer, creamier and more opaque than a sorbet made from the same fruit, while staying much lighter and fresher-tasting than ice cream. The colours also soften to pastel shades.

The challenge is that the fruits in rainbow sherbet are acidic, and acid curdles milk. Lime juice in particular can turn milk grainy if they are mixed warm or left to stand. The solution is to make each fruit base with sugar syrup or sugar first, chill it thoroughly, then stir in cold milk just before churning. Cold milk mixed with a sweetened, chilled fruit base stays smooth long enough to churn and freeze, and sugar itself helps protect the milk proteins. If the mixture looks slightly thickened, that is fine; it churns smooth.

As with any frozen dessert, sugar controls the texture. Each flavour base should be about a quarter sugar by weight, including the fruit's own sugars; a little liquid glucose keeps the sherbet scoopable from the freezer. Lime, which has very little sugar of its own, needs the most added.

The layering is simple once each flavour is churned. The three sherbets are spooned into a loaf tin in alternating dollops or stripes while still soft from the machine, then frozen together. Scooped across the stripes, each portion shows all three colours.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 300 ml fresh orange juice plus 1 tsp zest
• 80 g caster sugar, for the orange
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 120 ml fresh lime juice plus 2 tsp zest
• 150 ml water
• 110 g caster sugar, for the lime
• 300 g raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 90 g caster sugar, for the raspberry
• 75 g liquid glucose or light corn syrup, divided
• 450 ml whole milk, very cold, divided
• ¼ tsp fine salt, divided

Use freshly squeezed juice; bottled juices taste cooked once frozen. Zest carries much of the citrus aroma, so do not skip it. Frozen raspberries work perfectly and release their juice easily. Whole milk gives the classic sherbet texture; for a richer result, replace a third of it with double cream; for a dairy-free version, use coconut or oat milk. A drop of natural green colouring in the lime is optional — real lime sherbet is pale green-white rather than the bright green of shop versions. You will need an ice-cream maker and to churn the three flavours one after another.

iv. Method

1. Orange base: warm 100 ml of the orange juice with the 80 g sugar and 25 g of the glucose, stirring until dissolved. Stir in the rest of the orange juice, the zest, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
2. Lime base: heat the water with the 110 g sugar and 25 g glucose until dissolved, then add the lime juice, zest and a pinch of salt.
3. Raspberry base: blend the raspberries, press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, then warm half the purée with the 90 g sugar and remaining glucose until dissolved and stir back into the rest with a pinch of salt.
4. Chill all three bases in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until very cold. Put a 900 g loaf tin in the freezer.
5. Just before churning each flavour, whisk 150 ml of the cold milk into its base. Churn the orange for 20–25 minutes until thick, then spread it in a layer in the frozen tin and return it to the freezer.
6. Churn the lime in the same way and spoon it over the orange, then churn the raspberry and spoon it on top. For a swirled look, add the three in alternating dollops instead of layers and drag a knife through once.
7. Press baking paper onto the surface, cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, until firm. Scoop across the layers so each serving shows all three colours.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Add the milk cold and last. Mixing milk into warm acidic fruit curdles it. Chill each base, then whisk in cold milk just before churning.
• Re-freeze the ice-cream maker bowl if needed. Three churns in a row may warm a freezer-bowl machine; freeze the bowl between flavours, or use a compressor machine.
• Sieve the raspberries. Seeds are gritty in a frozen dessert and spoil the smooth bands.
• Do not reduce the sugar. It keeps the sherbet scoopable. Low-sugar sherbet freezes hard and icy.
• Keep the tin cold. Spreading soft sherbet into a frozen tin stops the layers melting into each other.
• Soften before scooping. Leave it at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before serving.

vi. Variations

Pineapple-orange-strawberry is another common American rainbow combination. Single-flavour sherbets — orange, lime or raspberry on their own — are simply one of the bases above. Sherbet punch floats scoops of rainbow sherbet in a mix of ginger ale or lemon-lime soda and pineapple juice. Rainbow sherbet ice lollies layer the three bases in lolly moulds, freezing each layer before adding the next. A dairy-free version uses coconut milk, which pairs especially well with lime and pineapple.

For dairy-free fruit ices on DessertCat, see raspberry sorbet, dragon fruit sorbet and lychee sorbet; for something richer, frozen custard. Mexican paletas and Latin American helado de agua are close relatives.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve rainbow sherbet in cones or small bowls, on its own or alongside birthday cake, or in a punch bowl as described above. It is a refreshing end to a summer barbecue and is lighter than ice cream after a heavy meal.

Store in the loaf tin or a sealed container with baking paper pressed onto the surface for up to 2 weeks; after that, ice crystals form and the bright citrus flavours fade. If it becomes very hard, let it stand for 10 minutes before scooping. The fruit bases can be made a day or two ahead and kept in the fridge, adding the milk just before churning.

ix. More from North American

• Raspberry Sorbet — sharp, smooth berry sorbet
• Dragon Fruit Sorbet — magenta pitaya ice
• Snow Cones — crushed ice and fruit syrup
• Frozen Custard — rich egg-yolk soft-serve
• Baked Alaska — ice cream in toasted meringue
• Paletas — Mexican fruit ice pops