Easy Summertime Fruit Sorbet

The strawberries have come and gone, but Michigan blueberries, plums and other fruits are just getting started. If you're like me and get carried away in the store by all the bright-colored fruits on display and buy way too many, here's a great use for them. You can use blueberries, plums, peaches or any other fruit -- or a combination. Just try to avoid using too many raspberries, blackberries or other seedy fruits -- the texture will be more seedy than smooth, which isn't ideal for a sorbet.

In addition, frozen fruit can be used, either store bought or if you had preserved fruits in the freezer; in fact, fruits such as peaches are much easier to use when already frozen, as the skin has usually already been removed.

To make sorbet, you need: About 5 cups of chopped fruits or berries. The juicier the better, such as various berries and stone fruits. A food processor or blender.

Wash and peel (if necessary) the fruits, then chop (again, if necessary) into inch-square-sized pieces. Set aside about 1 cup from the batch, and scatter the other 4 cups onto a baking sheet. Place the sheet in the freezer and the 1 cup in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to make the sorbet, take frozen fruits and pulse them in a food processor, making sure to break up all the chunks so you have a smooth fruit puree. Add sugar as needed to smooth out the fruit - about ½ cup should be enough, but add enough so the sorbet is sweet enough and not too tart (raspberries, for example, need more sugar than strawberries). You can also add a little water to make the fruit smooth. Add refrigerated fruit and blend until smooth, then serve or store in the freezer until you're ready for it.

Teresa Shaw is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor. Contact her at teresawrites (at) yahoo (dot) com or visit her Web site, Think Inside the Icebox.

Photo: Teresa Shaw, Think Inside the Icebox