A sweet and tangy watermelon lime sorbet is a great way to cool off in the summer. As a bonus, this recipe is frozen back in the watermelon rind and cut off into slices.
It’s hot. The type of heat where when you step outside the door and your skin is wet before the door swings shut behind you. It’s a hot that hangs in the air, letting you breathe it in, that is cured only by two things: being completely immersed in water or hiding indoors, the air conditioning cranked as far as it will go.
I find that the heat makes me very unmotivated to do things like take a walk, water and weed the garden (though I have forced that one on myself) and prepare food and eat it. However, when the promise of cooking provides ice cold watermelon sorbet, I just may be convinced. I’m fairly certain it didn’t take much convincing to get the kids to come grab a slice or sorbet either.
Start by cutting your watermelon as a simple syrup simmers on the stove. If you’re going to serve your sorbet in the rind, cut a watermelon (smaller is better) in half and scoop the watermelon flesh out. Place the hollowed-out rinds in the freezer to get cold while you make your sorbet.
When your simple syrup is cool and watermelon chunked, blend them together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add in lime juice to cut the sweetness. The first time we made watermelon sorbet we didn’t do this, and it was much too sweet for our taste. I went with a 1/3 cup lime juice.
Cool the liquid completely in the refrigerator for a few hours. When it’s good and cold, throw it in your ice cream machine and freeze. If you saved them, take your watermelon rind out of the freezer and fill it with your sorbet, perhaps throwing in a few mini chocolate chip “seeds” along the way.
This then goes into the freezer. It really doesn’t need that long, and if you let it sit for four to five hours, you’ll be ready to slice easily. Longer freezing just requires you to take it out a bit before you want to scoop or slice. No rind? Just store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Tip: Dip your scoop or knife in warm water before scooping or slicing to make it easier.
There’s nothing like a slice of watermelon on a warm summer day, especially when your slice happens to be sorbet.
Truly, nothing.
A few tips if you want to make slices:
- Use a small, personal size watermelon.
- Freeze only long enough for the sorbet to set, or if you freeze longer, give it a good amount of time on the counter to soften up.
- Dip your knife (I used a large chef’s knife) in warm water in between each cut, and try to cut 2″-3″-thick slices off the watermelon. Too thin and they don’t hold together as well.
How are you staying cool in the midst of this heat wave? Are you enjoying the pool, spending time hiding indoors or heading towards museums and other air-conditioned retreats?
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (depending on personal preference and watermelon sweetness)
8 cups cubed fresh watermelon
1/3 cup lime juice
Place water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is completely dissolved to create a syrup. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a food processor or blender, mix together watermelon cubes, syrup and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Add to an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve immediately as soft serve sorbet or freeze in an airtight container and remove a few minutes prior to serving to let soften for scooping.
Makes 8-10 servings.
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Oh my gosh…this is absolutely amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!!
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This is one of the best ideas that I’ve seen all summer! So awesome, Shaina!
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Thanks, Jamie! We really enjoyed it.
Love this! PS – what cuties you have!
That is SOOOOO fun and creative Shaina!!! I am in awe of your talent. As always!
Okay I am in love with this idea and recipe. They might melt in a hot minute today but they would be worth it
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WHat a fun treat!!
Great idea! I love freezing the sorbet in the rind and serving that way. So cute.
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Oh my gosh! This is so cute!!
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So delicious! Again I must tell you what gorgeous kids you have!
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Thanks, Maris! You know, you’re welcome to give one a spin for the weekend.
What an adorable idea!! So creative; I love it!
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This is awesome! Best way to eat watermelon ever!
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[...] only thing better than a slice of watermelon on a hot day is Watermelon Lime Sorbet, served in the rind! And by the looks on Shaina’s kid’s cute faces, I think they [...]
Awesome! I bet the kids had fun helping with this one. It’s obvious they enjoyed eating it. =)
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Pure genius. Seriously!
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Hmmm thats Genius act.. I luv it..
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This looks so good! I’m getting an ice cream maker this weekend, and I think this is the first recipe I’ll try! I hope it’s okay, I put a link to this recipe on my blog post about watermelon.
I love when people share! Thanks, Sam!
I LOVE THIS! I keep bookmarking recipes for the ice cream maker I’m going to buy… and with this weather, I think it will be very soon!
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I just found this on the TidyMom.com blog and love it. What a fun idea. I would have never thought to put the sorbet back into the watermelon rind. I can’t wait to try this idea. How fun especially when the tempertures are soaring right now. I might try it with frozen blueberries instead of the chocolate chips.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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Dried blueberries would be a great idea, Vicki! I actually just left the other half of this watermelon “seedless.”
Love this idea!
This is one of the cutesy ideas I have ever seen!
This is the most creative & adorable idea ever!!! Love it. Your kids must have gone nuts for this.
Thanks, Marla! The kids were so excited when I finally pulled it out of the freezer to cut it. They’d been waiting a full week for their slice of sorbet!
That is so cool (literally)!! I’ve never seen that idea before, I love it.
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Absolutely love this and your pictures (kids) are priceless!
If you don’t have an Ice cream machine you can freeze the cubed watermelon before you put it in the food processor. You may have to cut it into smaller chunks but it will produce the same effect
That’s a great tip, Holly! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, this makes my mouth water! Thank you!
That is TOO CUTE! I love this idea! I’ve seen jello in orange rinds before, this reminds me of it
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This is just absolutely brilliant… I love it!!
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I love this idea!!
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Shaina, I’m nearly speechless. This is sheer brilliance! We will absolutely be making this within the week.
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Looks tasty! I tried this same presentation and put it in one of my cookbooks, but I didn’t use nearly as much lime juice in my recipe. I’m wondering–does this really taste like watermelon, or mostly like lime? I’m sure the lime would be refreshing, but does the melon flavor come through, too?
It tastes very much like watermelon.
The recipe uses 8 cups of watermelon, where most watermelon sorbet recipes use closer to 4. The 8 cups is necessary to fill both halves of a small melon, though, and so it makes quite a bit of sorbet. Hope that helps explain it!
This was a very good idea in theory, however, in actual practice it is much harder than it seems.
I definitely found slicing to be a challenge at first, too. See my tips above for how it worked for us!
Love it!!! You found the one thing that could be more refreshing then a slice of watermelon on a hot day. I have to try this. Thanks for sharing.
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The is the cutest recipe for these hot, rainless summer days in Texas!
Shaina, this is brilliant. Creative, smart and perfect for summer. And on another note, your kids are adorable.
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Cool
what an idea
I agree with everyone. This is the best idea I have seen this summer.WOw!
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What a wonderful idea, very clever and unique!
Love this idea! Very cute and oh so creative.
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This looks amazing!!!!! I wish I had an ice cream machine to make this, or is it possible to make it without one, because I have a watermelon thats sitting in the fridge waiting to be made into sorbet
Oh my gosh, this is such a cute idea! My kids will be amazed when I make this. We are eating lots of sweet watermelon this summer, and this is a perfect way to cool off on these very hot summer days in Texas.
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this looks like such a fun and delicious idea! i will definitely try it
Are you supposed to mix the water and sugar together before heating it? or just pour them both in the pan and heat like that?
You can just add them to the pan and give them a stir quick. The sugar will sit on the bottom until it starts to dissolve.
and should you just use the chunks from the watermelon? or do you use all the juice that’s in it as well?
Slice into chunks or scoop the watermelon as you would to eat it. Any juice that drips out as you’re cutting it can be discarded. Hope that helps!
I’m sitting here with my mouth watering now, and I can’t even have watermelon because of allergies. *whimpers*
Maybe I could adapt it to strawberry lime sorbet…
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What a great idea. One to try for sure!
So completely brilliant!! So glad I saw this before the end of summer!
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Great presentation! Nice writing style and beaut pics. I’ll come back here
What a wonderful ,pretty and fun way to serve desert !
Your photos are wonderful too
This looks delicious. My family loves watermelon… just not as a fragrance. I will have to try it.
p.s. My daughter’s name is Shaina
Whenever i eat Water melon I am afraid about seeds, With the help of this idea i have no tension