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Bright and bubbly Rainbow Sherbet Floats are a fun and refreshing treat. Colorful scoops of sherbet bubbling up in sparkling cider are perfect for spring holidays or any celebration. They’re easy to make, and with simple tips for prepping ahead and adding festive garnishes, they’ll be the highlight of any special occasion!
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: No-bake
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free, Dairy-free option
- Skill Level: Easy
Rainbow Sherbet Floats are Fun and Easy!
I don’t often make cute food. Sure, I’ll create holiday feasts, but when it comes to themed treats, well, you’re most likely to see me tossing some spinach in the blender along with a frozen banana and some mint extract to make a Shamrock Shake Smoothie for St. Patrick’s Day and calling it a day.
Sometimes, though, inspiration strikes. I happened to be taking a look at my Sparkling Cider Floats, and thought that they needed a springtime twist. So I swapped the vanilla ice cream for something more colorful. These rainbow sherbet floats will brighten up any day with a colorful and tasty treat! You are going to love them, and here’s why…
- As simple or as fancy as you like. The basic version is simply floating some scoops of sherbet in a glass of sparkling cider. But by adding a few special touches, you can make them extra festive for a birthday party, St. Patrick’s Day celebration or an Easter holiday get-together. They are also a wonderful treat for a baby shower ot any other spring or summer occasion!
- Prep ahead tips. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve so you can stage some of the components in advance instead of rushing while the party is happening. This also makes them easy to assemble at the last minute and keeps the sherbet from melting too quickly
- Match any occasion. While I often just use a standard container of rainbow sherbet which usually have raspberry, orange, and lime sherbet, you can buy individual pints of any flavor of sherbet or sorbet to coordinate with the celbration or satisfy your tastebuds. This also give you the option to make them dairy free!
What You’ll Need
Here’s a rundown of the ingredients to make rainbow sherbet floats, including the optional garnishes that make them extra bright and cute! You’ll find the full amounts and detailed instructions in the recipe card further down in the post.
For the Rainbow Sherbet Floats
- Rainbow sherbet. Your easiest option is to buy one tub that contains three flavors, but you can also purchase three separate pint containers. For a nice color variation, try using raspberry, orange, and lime.
- Sparkling cider. Your basic sparkling apple cider, such as the one from Martinelli’s, is perfect, but you can also use a blend, like Apple-Pear or a sparkling white grape juice.
- Honey or light corn syrup and rainbow sugar. To make the sugared rim on the glasses.
- Fruit garnishes. To match the flavors of the sherbet, I like to use orange slices, lime slices, and raspberries. However, you can use any fruit to complement or even add additional colors, such as strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, and even sprigs of mint.
How to Make Rainbow Sherbet Floats
These sparkling cider floats are incredibly easy to make. A little advance prep helps them come together quickly when you are ready to serve them, but you can also skip the first two steps and just scoop and pour as you are ready to serve them.
- Make the scoops. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop balls of the different flavors of sherbet or sorbet onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. You can use individual colors or swirl them together. Freeze for an hour or two.
- Prepare the garnishes. If you want to add that extra bit of sparkle, before you make your floats, just dip the rim of your glasses or flutes in honey or corn syrup and roll it around in some rainbow decorator sugar or nonpareil sprinkles.
- Fill the glasses. When ready to serve, fill each flute or glass about halfway with Sparkling Cider. Add a few of the sherbet balls, then top with additional Sparkling Cider. Garnish with orange and lime slices and raspberries with a slit cut in them, if you like.
Tips for Success
- Choose your glass. Yes, you really can make these rainbow sherbet floats in any kind of glass or cup, but I really love the look of making them in flutes. Due to the smaller opening, you can’t use a full-size ice cream scoop, so I use a small cookie scoop to make little balls of sherbet.
- Pre-scoop the sherbet. I already mentioned this, but there are a few benefits to scooping the sherbet balls ahead of time. They will be all ready and waiting for you so you can drop them in the glasses and pour in the sparkling cider as you pass them out to guests. And since the little scoops are re-frozen individually, they won’t melt as quickly when you add the cider.
- Make it dairy free. You can pick up pints of three different flavors of fruit sorbet instead of sherbet.
Sparkling Cider Rainbow Sherbet Floats
Equipment
- Freezer
Ingredients
For the Floats
- 3 pints rainbow sherbet or three pints of sherbet or sorbet, such as raspberry, orange, and lime
- 24 oz Sparkling Cider or Sparkling Apple-Pear Juice
Optional Garnishes
- 1 Tablespoon honey or light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup rainbow sugar or nonpareils
- orange slices
- lime slices
- raspberries
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
- Using a small cookie scoop, melon baller, or spoon, scoop balls of the different flavors of sherbet or sorbet onto the baking sheet. Place the sheet with the sherbet balls in the freezer for an hour or two.
- Pour a small amount of honey or corn syrup into a small bowl. Dip the rim of your glasses or champagne flutes or glasses in the honey or syrup and then into the rainbow sugar or nonpareils. Set aside until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, fill each flute or glass about halfway with Sparkling Cider or Sparkling Apple-Pear Juice, using a funnel if needed to keep the sugared rim intact.
- Add 3-5 sherbet balls of varying colors to the glasses, then fill to the top with additional Sparkling Cider or Juice.
- Add orange and lime slices and raspberries (or other fruit) to the rim for garnish.
Did you make this?
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Oh my goodness, this looks heavenly! My kids would love these for sure!!!
Thank you, Nancy!
I love how bright and colorful these fun drinks are!!!!
When I was a child my dad would put a roast and vegies in the oven Sunday mornings for dinner after church. Always that roast in the oven and we were starved by the time we got home! He would often give use a scoop of orange sherbet in a juice glass with apple juice poured over it. No bubbly apple juice yet that we knew of in the dark ages. He would also do vanilla ice cream with grape juice. Yummy fun memory.
What a special memory, Kathy. Thank you for sharing it with me!
Love this! So fun and colorful. I’ll be making these for the next kid sleepover!
These floats are SO fun!!!!!
As a kid we did this for picnics! But, we just used strawberry sherbet…need to try rainbow!
It’s so cute! The color is great, too. This will be a nice treat for my daughter on her birthday’s party. Coincidentally, it is on Valentines Day. Thank you for your very detailed recipe.
You don’t make cute food but your Sparkling Cider Rainbow Sherbet Floats is so amazing!!!! I want to surprise my kid with it. Thanks you very much!!!
Thank you so much, Kareen!