Champagne Sorbet

Champagne sorbet recipe, perfect dessert for the holidays or special occasions.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated March 09, 2022
Elise Bauer
Champagne Sorbet
Elise Bauer

I love cooking with friends, so when Garrett came over with a bottle of champagne in hand and a suggestion to make champagne sorbet for New Years, I was all over it.

Unfortunately, our first two attempts were miserable failures (well, not completely, they made great punch). The problem with trying to freeze champagne, or sparkling wine, is that champagne is 13% alcohol, and alcohol doesn't freeze, at least not at 32°F.

Also, if your sorbet mixture isn't chilled enough to begin with, it will warm up the freezer bowl of the ice cream maker and the bowl won't be cold enough to freeze the mixture sufficiently.

Champagne Sorbet
Elise Bauer

Three more attempts and several days later we now have a lovely champagne sorbet. The trick is to boil the champagne with the sugar when you dissolve the sugar, thus boiling away enough of the alcohol so that the sorbet freezes fine.

The grapefruit and lemon juices naturally complement the citrus tones of the champagne.

Happy New Year!

Champagne Sorbet

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Chilling and churning 3 hrs
Total Time 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings 8 servings
Yield 1 quart

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups sparkling wine or champagne

  • 1 cup white granulated sugar

  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest and/or grapefruit zest

  • 1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice

  • 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Meyer if you have access to them)

Method

  1. Boil champagne, sugar, corn syrup, zest:

    Put champagne, sugar, corn syrup, and zest into a saucepan. Bring to a vigorous boil so that the sugar completely dissolves, remove from heat.

  2. Strain:

    Strain into a stainless steel bowl (will help cool down faster), add the grapefruit juice and lemon juice.

  3. Chill:

    Chill completely. To do this, either place bowl in a larger bowl half-filled with ice water, and stir until champagne solution is completely cold, refreshing the ice in the outer bowl if necessary.

    Or you can cover with plastic wrap and chill in your refrigerator overnight.

    I put the bowl in the ice compartment of our freezer for a couple hours, because it fits, chills quickly, and is far enough away from the other food in the freezer.

  4. Process in ice cream maker:

    Process the mixture in your ice cream maker (Amazon sells a good one) according to the ice cream maker directions.

  5. Freeze until firm:

    Transfer mixture to a storage container and freezer in your freezer until firm, at least 6 hours.

Links:

How to make ice cream without a machine - useful tips from ice cream and sorbet expert David Lebovitz

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
160 Calories
0g Fat
33g Carbs
0g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 160
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 5mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 33g 12%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 28g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 21mg 104%
Calcium 10mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 115mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.