Summer and sorbet are a childhood memory for me and while no churn-sorbet is a thing, I was able to experiment with my new KitchenAid ice maker ( no commercial deal) and LOVED it.
The tricky part is to get the ratio right of the amount of sugar you need for the sorbet to be smooth and not crystallise.
All you need is a fruit juiced or blended and sugar. I love combining fruit and herbs, so I infused lemon verbena to add this delicate fresh flavour.
STEP 1: Make the herb infusion, pour hot water ( 80 C not boiling), water over the verbena and let steep overnight. Making a simple syrup is 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup of water.
STEP 2: I used fresh fruit, I blended the melon
STEP 3: Add the sugar or syrup and churn as per kitchen appliance instructions and store in freezer for a few hours before serving.
Use a whole uncooked washed egg to check the level of sugar. When 1/2 of the cooled simple syrup is added to the fruit juice, gentle dunk in the egg. If it floats and kind of bobs on the surface you have enough sugar, if not add a spoon full of syrup at the time. The sugar level will determine the “smoothness” of the sorbet virus it being crystallised. There is no right level, no standard recipe as each fruit used is different.
My melon sorbet infused with lemon verbena
Yield 250 ml sorbet
Ingredients
- 500 gr or about 2 melon, peeled, deseeded and cut in chunks
- 4 - 5 sprigs of lemon verbena
- 200 ml water
- 200 gr caster sugar
Instructions
- Make the herb infusion, add hot water ( 80C not boiling) to a boil with the lemon verbena and let steep overnight. Strain and disregard the leaves.
- Blend the melon till juice consistency.
- Add to the strained infused water the sugar and boil to make simple syrup. Let cool. Add half of the cooled syrup in the fruit juice. To check the level of sugar you can use a refractometer ( expense tool measuring sugar levels) or use the technique of the floating egg. Gentle dunk a whole uncooked egg into the mixture and if the egg just about floats to the surface you added enough syrup, if not add some more a spoon at the time.
- Churn the mixture as per kitchen appliance instructions, freeze and serve. I added little caramel lacy cookies for crunch.
Notes
by Sandra Slawinski on www.leeksandhighheels.com
Written and photographed by Sandra Slawinski without commercial deals. I used my bowls from Dille & Kamille.
