Hawaii-Style Sherbet
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus at least 14 hours’ freezing
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes, plus at least 14 hours’ freezing
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 3(12-ounce) cans strawberry soda (or the soda flavor of your choice), 1 at room temperature and 2 chilled
- 1(3-ounce) box strawberry Jell-O (or the Jell-O flavor of your choice, matching your selected soda flavor)
- 1(14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½(12-ounce) can evaporated milk (optional; see Tip)
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring the contents of the can of room-temperature strawberry soda to a boil, either in a microwave in a medium, microwave-safe bowl for 2 to 3 minutes, or in a medium saucepan on the stovetop.
- Step 2
Remove from heat and whisk in dry Jell-O mix until thoroughly dissolved, then whisk in condensed milk and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Step 3
Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight, or freeze for 2 to 3 hours, until thickened. When it’s ready, it will have a texture akin to a loose jelly.
- Step 4
Whisk the mixture using an electric hand or stand mixer on high speed for 3 to 7 minutes, until it starts to lighten in color and almost doubles in volume. (If you do not have an electric mixer, whisk by hand for about 10 minutes.) Whipping the gelatin helps to stabilize the mixture and introduces tiny air bubbles, which make it less icy once frozen, and easier to scoop.
- Step 5
Turn the speed to low and stir in the remaining 2 chilled cans of strawberry soda, followed by the evaporated milk (if using).
- Step 6
Transfer the mixture to a container with a lid or cover with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight or for at least 12 hours before scooping and serving.
- Evaporated milk is optional, but adds a nice milky flavor and tempers some of the sweetness.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
For people who shy away from unnatural ingredients, try making strawberry soda from real strawberries and sugar and then adding sparkling water. To make the strawberries, hull and halve 1 1/2 pounds strawberries. Toss with about 3/4 cups of sugar in a metal bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place over a bowl of simmering water and leave for 30 - 45 minutes. Remove from heat and when cool, strain the juice. Or puree the whole thing. Add sparkling water to taste.
This was a fun read, nostalgically recalling other summertime treats. I remember making, in high school, a dessert called ‘Frozen Passion’ - one large bottle of orange soda and one can of sweetened condensed milk, hand cranked in an old-fashioned ice cream freezer (the only kind available, in my day). Was this concoction overly sweet, artificially colored, nutritionally dubious? Of course. Was it also delicious, easy, fun, memorable? You betcha…..
I remember that crack seed store well, and will be sure to make this ono recipe this summer, dusting it off with the stash of li hing mui powder my ohana from Hawaii sends me. If you don't understand the flavors from the islands you are truly missing out. Mahalo plenty for this gem.
Delighted to see this recipe! I was introduced to Neale by a friend of mine and just talked to him the other day. Growing up in Hawaii, I remember friends visiting Maui would bring back Tasaka Guri Guri to their friends on Oahu. The world has gotten much smaller, so things from Maui are less of a novelty for Oahuans, but the memories remain! Thanks Ligaya for finding these interesting treats and thanks Neale for allowing us to access something from our childhood, but with a modern twist.
I am enthused. Is there such a thing as natural strawberry soda and natural gelatin ie without artificial ingredients. I look forward to making this, if so.
Is there any reason not to just use a natural fruit juice? Does the carbonation do something important here?
This is based on the ice cream from Tasaka Guri Guri in the old Kahalui Mall on Maui. My mother-in-law grew up there and knew the family who owned it. When I was fortunate enough to visit, she would ask, "who wants 'Goody Goody." They used to serve their goody-goody with sweet red beans, but stopped. She scolded them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasaka_Guri-Guri#:~:text=Guri%2Dguri%20is%20a%20cross,a%20family%20secret%20for%20decades.
My grandmother in Alabama made this recipe. The favorite was strawberry. But she also did cream soda/vanilla and Grapico. It's interesting how far and wide this recipe spread. I make it when we go to the lake. I have some leftover Grapico ice cream in the freezer at the lake I think.
My mother used to make something like this for us when we were very young and sick. We called it Crello (Ice cream-Jello) and she did the final step in the blender. We did NOT live in Hawaii, but rather Minnesota. She’d make different flavors and I believe it mixed vanilla ice cream and Jello as the main ingredients. Fluffy, creamy. Crello was the best part of being sick!
. . . wondering if Japanese umeboshi plums might be a decent substitution for li hing mui plums . . .
I want to try this but am vegetarian and my husband is vegan. I’m wondering if agar will work instead of gelatin. Has anyone tried it? Might try it with agar and condensed coconut milk and possibly a different soda (thinking orange soda would taste like a creamsicle—yum
@ Marsha Gibson Umeboshi and Li Hing Mui are as different as Chinese from Japanese. They are not the same thing. I'm curious about the aversion to "artificial" ingredients. Unless you make everything from scratch, almost everything you get at a supermarket is an industrial product packed with chemicals. It's the only way to feed billions of people.
Yes, this recipe works in an ice cream maker. I followed the recipe through Step 5, then used an ice cream maker to finish it. The sherbet came out light and creamy. This recipe made two batches of sherbet in the ice cream maker.
This was a fail for me. Sherbet ended up way too icy, like shave ice. Not for us.
Can this be made ahead an frozen?
When I first made this I used orange jello and orange soda as some reviewers suggested. But hey, the recipe authors knew what they were doing. Strawberry is the best! My only cheat is to use strawberry-rhubarb soda, which is lovely.
I added the ingredients in the wrong order which made it very difficult to whisk by hand but turned out fantastic tasting with a nice "chew". Next time I'll try it with orange soda/orange jello and maybe it will taste like an orange dreamsicle.
Too sweet
You can also use other kinds of berries.
I made this using lemon jello, minute maid lemon aid and lemon flavoring and it was excellent! Next time I will add lemon zest. Served with a lemon cookie and a sprig of fresh mint made a lovely dessert. I also tried it with orange crush and orange jello. Also a win but we preferred the lemon.
I made this with lime jello and sprite for my lime sorbet loving kid. We made the jello part the night before then the whipped part in the morning; by dinner time it was nicely frozen and everyone liked it. My kid for some reason didn’t like the condensed milk “flavour” in the sherbet though, I thought it was good! Maybe strawberry or orange might have worked better.
Recipe says... 1/2 (12oz) Evaporated Milk Is this 1/2 of a 12oz can or does it mean 6oz? Not clear on this.
I followed the recipe exactly, but the end product was full of crunchy ice crystals.
Do you think it is possible to make a non-dairy version with coconut cream and coconut milk or some other variation?
Very delicious and refreshing. I used peach soda and peach jello. Followed the directions. Included the evaporated milk. Reminded me of a creamsicle. Yum!
Made it, as written, with Fanta strawberry and the evaporated milk.Texture was great, but, good golly, it was sweet. Next time gonna try it with a berry seltzer and crushed fresh or frozen fruit. Going to pick raspberries this week, maybe with lime seltzer and razz jello.
has anyone tried strawberry seltzer, instead of sugared soda? my sense is that it'd cut the sweetness down quite a bit. which is a good thing, right?
No, however, I did try Trader Joe’s Sparkling Strawberry Beverage (which has no added sugar) as a substitute for the strawberry soda. After step 5, I used an ice cream maker to make the sherbet. The sherbet was light and creamy, with a very strawberry flavor and was plenty sweet.
Soothing, edible kitsch in a bowl! Welcome back, sherbet. We missed you! (Great story, great recipe.)
Icey unpleasant stuff that tasted lousy. A real disappointment.
I made this with black cherry soda and black cherry because that's what I was able to find. I followed the directly exactly and I also had issues with it crystalizing - the finished product was still tasty but did not have the consistency of sherbet.
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