KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — When the weather starts to veer towards sweltering and your weekends feel ravaging rather than rejuvenating, then it’s time for a cool treat.
You could just grab an ice cream from the chiller at your nearest convenience store, I suppose, but these tend to be too sweet and too cloying. I always feel a tad nauseated after the final lick, as though my taste buds are admonishing me.
Why not make a refreshing sorbet at home instead? It’s easy enough, if you have the patience. Something citrusy and uplifting, a herb for its fragrance, and a little liqueur for a bracing kick.
What I have in mind is a limoncello and rosemary sorbet, brightened with fresh lemon juice and zest. You don’t need an ice cream maker; just your freezer and time.
So simple and perhaps even basic. Yet when it’s chilled to perfection, this sorbet is quietly restorative — a brief, lemon-scented interlude before the weekend drifts on.
LIMONCELLO AND ROSEMARY SORBET
Sorbets have a way of stripping dessert back to first principles. No cream to cushion mistakes, no eggs to hide imbalance.
What remains is water, sugar and flavour — which means every ingredient must justify its place. When done well, a sorbet is not merely cold and sweet, but lucid: each note arriving cleanly, then fading just as quickly.
Limoncello — a sweet Italian lemon liqueur — works particularly well here. Beyond its obvious citrus lift, it brings a gentle bitterness from the lemon peel and just enough alcohol to keep the sorbet from freezing into a solid block.
Rosemary, meanwhile, acts as the necessary balance. Used with restraint, it adds a savoury edge that reins in the sweetness and deepens the lemon’s brightness.
A brief infusion is enough — long exposure risks turning freshness into something medicinal. Fresh sprigs are essential; dried rosemary lacks the softness needed for a dessert of this kind.
One final note: given that we are not using an ice cream maker here but whisking the ice crystals using a fork, our sorbet will never be as fine as a standard churned version.
In fact, if we were to stir the ice crystals only a couple of times, the result will be closer to that of a coarse granita. Which is lovely too: the texture will be less fine but the flavours remain fabulous!
Ingredients
500 ml water
200 g granulated sugar
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
120 ml limoncello
2 lemons, juice and finely grated zest only
Method
Pour the water into a medium saucepan, add the sugar, and tuck in the rosemary sprigs.
Set over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer quietly for 5–7 minutes, just long enough for the rosemary to perfume the liquid.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Once cooled, lift out and discard the rosemary.
Stir in the limoncello, lemon juice and lemon zest, tasting as you go. The balance should lean bright rather than sweet.
Transfer the mixture to a shallow, freezer-safe container, cover and place in the freezer.
After 45 minutes, remove the container and stir thoroughly with a fork, breaking up the forming ice.
Return to the freezer and repeat this process every 30–45 minutes for 3–4 hours, until the sorbet freezes evenly with a fine, granular texture.
When serving, scoop into chilled cups and garnish with more lemon zest and a few rosemary leaves.
