This sorbet is as beautiful as it is refreshing and healthful.

Makes about one scant quart.

2 cups sugar
4 cups water
12 ounces cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or orange juice + a sliver of lemon or orange zest

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Put the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil; cover and cook without stirring for 5 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Add the cranberries, citrus juice and zest; cover and cook until the berries burst.

When cool, pour the contents of the pot through a fine sieve set over a deep bowl. Press the solids in the sieve with the back of a spoon to force the liquids through. Discard the solids. Put the liquid in a covered container and chill thoroughly.

Freeze the cranberry sorbet in an ice cream freezer or sorbetière according to the manufacturer’s directions. Or you can freeze the cranberry syrup in ice cubes trays: whiz a few cubes at a time in a food processor, breaking them up with a rubber spatula and scraping down the sides until smooth. Another method, actually granita, so-called for its grainy texture, is to freeze the cranberry syrup in a wide flat container tightly covered. Every once in a while, increasingly often as it freezes, stir it with a fork to break up the crystals and make slush.