Blackberry Sherbet

It's time for blackberries! We Pap used to go pick our own. In fact, in the woods behind our house is a large blackberry patch. Pap would go pick me a big bowlful everyday. But a briar patch has obvious and hidden dangers. Poor Pap would get scratches all over his arms and sometimes his legs. But he also was bitten by an insect or perhaps a spider last year. The area was red and nasty for a week. It was then we decided to leave the blackberry patch for the birds and other critters. Now we go right to a farm that grows them. Last year we bought a flat and I froze them. FYI ... Berries that grow wild are small. But the cultivated ones are huge! They are fabulous to behold.

Well I finished using the last of the frozen berries today. I thought a cold refreshing sherbet would be nice in this 90+ degree weather in Atlanta. I loved this recipe because it's not too sweet and also as a tanginess due to the buttermilk.

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh blackberries (frozen works also)
2 cups sugar
2 cups well-shaken whole buttermilk

Directions:
1. If the berries are full of tough seeds, remove seeds by forcing berries through a food mill or a mesh sieve into a large bowl. If berries are mostly seedless, place them in a large bowl. Stir in sugar and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, puree berry mixture. Pour into a large glass or metal bowl.

2. Whisk in buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate until mixture is very cold, at least 4 hours, then stir well. Freeze sherbet in a gel-type ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions. The sherbet will be soft, like a thick milk shake. To freeze hard enough to scoop, transfer to an airtight container, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and freeze until firm.