Fourth of July recipes | Ice cream and sorbets of the rainbow

Ice cream and sorbet can be the perfect red white and blue dessert. Image from Flickr.

Fourth of July recipes can be a challenge. A good fourth of July recipe should be easy to make, incredibly tasty and have an element of fun. If it can be made red, white and blue, that’s even better. So what could be better for the Fourth of July than ice cream and sorbet?

The basics of frozen desserts

Frozen desserts, ice cream and sorbet alike, can be practically perfect Fourth of July barbecue desserts. To make a frozen dessert, you need to take a basic mixture of ingredients and freeze it while agitating it. Mixing the ingredients with air while you freeze it keeps the dessert light and edible. There are several ways to freeze ice cream. First, you can do the picnic-friendly double can method – take a small coffee can, fill it with the dessert mixture, and tape it closed. Put the small can inside a larger can filled with ice and rock salt, tape the whole thing closed, and kick it around until the ice is very close to melted. There are also hand-crank, soccer-ball shaped and electric ice cream makers.

Red: Fourth of July strawberry sorbet

Strawberry sorbet may sound like the simplest dessert, but you can make it much more fancy. Blend in a blender or food processor:
1 pound of cut and hulled strawberries
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 sprigs fresh basil or mint
Then freeze and enjoy!

White: Fourth of July ice cream

A basic vanilla, mint, or even almond ice cream can be an amazing white dessert for the Fourth of July. Combine:
2 cups half and half
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flavor extract – vanilla bean, mint or almond.
Combine, freeze and enjoy!

Blue: Fourth of July blueberry sorbet

If you love berries, then Fourth of July is the perfect time to try out a blue sorbet. In a blender or food processor, combine:
2 pints blueberries
1 pint blackberries or huckleberries
1/2 cup agave nectar or 1 cup simple syrup
Then freeze, scoop, and enjoy!

These recipes, of course, are just suggestions. You can combine, blend and love just about any kind of fruit, sugar, and flavoring to create fun kinds of desserts. No matter what, remember to enjoy the Fourth of July!