4-Ingredient Strawberry Banana Sorbet – Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

What are the secrets of sorbet? ›

According to Serious Eats, the optimal sugar concentration for sorbet is 20-30%. Sugar dissolved in water lowers the freezing point of the mixture. The sweet spot of sorbet is all about adding enough sugar to prevent it from freezing solid, while not adding so much sugar that it won't solidify at all.

A machine freezes the base quickly and the churning action breaks up ice crystals resulting in a smoother texture. This can also be somewhat accomplished by stirring and mashing the sorbet three or more times while it is freezing – and then stirring and mashing again right before serving.

Place strawberries and sugar into a food processor and pulse machine on and off until fruit is broken up. Add water and continue processing until you have a smooth puree. Transfer to a container and freeze for 2 hours, or until firm enough to scoop.

Even small amounts of corn syrup (or other liquid sugars) can add body and creaminess to a sorbet made with sucrose. How much you use, and in what proportion to sucrose, will vary from fruit to fruit, but this lemon sorbet recipe is a good starting point for super-sour citrus.

Without fat from dairy or eggs, it's the suspension of sugar within the fruit purée that allows the sorbet to churn into something with a creamy mouthfeel. You need 20-30% sugar in your sorbet, which will come from your fruit plus some added sugar.

Tapioca starch (or corn starch): tapioca starch fis our go-to starch to thicken a sorbet mixture, for the velvety texture it creates. If you do not have tapioca starch, you can use corn starch instead, which is not the same, but it still works.

1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur (this is for flavor, but it also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid. Alcohol won't freeze, so it is great insurance that you will have a soft sorbet.

Sherbet is made with dairy, so it contains a little bit of fat. One ½ cup serving of sherbet averages around 130 calories and 1 to 3 grams of fat. Sorbet is made with just fruit and sugar and is therefore fat-free. There are between 120 to 150 calories per ½ cup of sorbet.

Too much sugar will not only make for a sickeningly sweet dessert, it also reduces the freezing point so that firstly, your sorbet will take ages to freeze, and secondly, it will crystallize as it freezes. Too little sugar and you end up with loads of crunchy ice crystals.

The problem is usually that after it is frozen it is too icy. To combat the iciness sorbets will include either alcohol or a lot of sugar. If you are confident that you are freezing your mixture as much as you should then perhaps you could reduce the sugar or alcohol in the recipe to encourage solidification.

Why put egg white in sorbet? ›

If you want a fluffier sorbet, you can add two egg whites, whipped to form stiff peaks, when the mixture begins to solidify.

To stabilise the liquid of the mixture and prevent the formation of ice crystals it is necessary to lower the temperature of this mixture as quickly as possible to -18 °C.

Sorbet was one of the first frozen desserts ever developed. In fact, some sources state that the first sorbet dates all the way back to 3000 BC, and eventually evolved into what we enjoy today. In medieval times, the Arabs drank a chilled beverage called “sherbet,” or “sharabt” in Arabic.

Sorbet has less calories than ice cream and other frozen desserts, and no fat. It's fruit content also makes it rich in vitamin C. Any downsides? That fruit content also means it contains a fair bit of sugar, and if we're comparing it with ice cream and gelato, it has less calcium, vitamin A and iron.

Too little sugar and the sorbet becomes icy, too much and it can be slushy — hit the sugar level just right and the sorbet will taste creamy and melt evenly across your tongue.