Mango Sorbet (No-Churn Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What makes sorbet so creamy? ›

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.

Sugar plays a larger roll in the sorbet than just sweetening the fruit juice. It's also crucial for the sorbet's texture. 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.

Making home-made sorbet is easier than you think. You don't even need an ice cream machine! It's basically just frozen fruit puree sweetened with sugar and water. You can also add herbs, chocolate or wines and liqueurs to flavor the sorbet.

Sugar doesn't just sweeten sorbet—it's also responsible for sorbet's structure. In ice cream, a combination of fat, protein, and sugar all influences ice cream's texture, but in sorbet sugar is the big fish.

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.

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

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.

Since alcohol doesn't freeze, the vodka helps add smoothness to the the crunchy, icy texture of the sorbet. I made mine with Heritage Distilling Company's vodka. Triple distilled with a smooth finish, it's the perfect addition to this refreshing dessert.

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.

What keeps sorbet soft? ›

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. BUT, if you add too much sorbet won't freeze at all and you will basically have a margarita or daiquiri!)

Ingredients: Gelatin, locust bean gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, milk whey protein concentrate & standardized with dextrose.

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.

"Sorbet is made with fruit but no dairy (eggs or milk/cream) so it's generally vegan-friendly and suits those with egg or dairy allergies, too," she says. The pureness of the fruit makes it icy and refreshing, and it won't be silky or rich in its texture as some other kinds of ice creams and sherberts may be.

If the amount of shell that's showing is about the size of a nickel, your balance of fruit and sugar is correct and it will yield a sorbet that's neither too soft or too hard once it's frozen. If the egg is sitting lower, showing a dime-size or smaller, add more simple syrup.

Commercial sorbets are almost always much smoother than you can achieve at home due to their ability to freeze the mixture faster and churn more powerfully so that the results are velvety and not icy at all.

If it is too runny then it hasn't frozen enough. If you are freezing in an ice cream churn then the mixture should churn until it has thickened. At least until there is no liquid that hasn't crystallized.