Easy Homemade Coconut Sorbet Recipe - Ice Cream From Scratch (2024)

FAQs

What is coconut sorbet made of? ›

It is seriously coconutty! Made with a triple blend of coconut - condensed coconut milk, evaporated coconut milk, and young coconut water.

If your sorbet is rock-hard after churning and freezing: Allow it to sit on the counter for 5 minutes to soften before scooping OR. Melt the base back down to liquid, add more sugar, or a bit of corn syrup, or a splash of alcohol, then re-churn and refreeze.

That's why pastry chefs look to liquid sugar like invert sugar, glucose, or dextrose, which all make sorbet creamier when used properly. The easiest alternative sugar—the one you can find in any American supermarket—is plain 'ol non-high-fructose corn syrup. Trust me: It's lemon sorbet's best friend.

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.

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.

Sorbets are a simple combination of fresh fruit or fruit juice with sugar. That's it! About two pounds of fruit will be perfect for making a quart of sorbet — that comes out to about five cups of chopped fruit. A little more or less is fine; this is a basic formula, not an exact science.

Chunky fruit: Big chunks will be really obvious, but even tiny chunks can help provide little bits that make the result freeze hard. Make sure that you puree well. Too cold a freezer: sorbet is going to be best if it's not frozen extremely cold, but your freezer probably is nice and cold.

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.

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

"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.

Why add vodka to sorbet? ›

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.

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.

Pectin, extracted from fruits, provides a smooth and creamy texture while limiting the formation of ice crystals, and it is compatible with all fruits due to its natural gelling agent (suitable for acidic fruits, high pH, etc.).

The main ingredients that suppresses the freezing point is SUGAR, SALT and ALCOHOL. You have probably seen in many recipes that you can add a splash of alcohol or a little salt to make the ice cream softer. But the most important ingredient is sugar.

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.

The difference between ice cream and sorbet is also based on whether or not dairy is used. Technically speaking, ice cream always contains cream and/or milk as its main ingredients, while sorbet traditionally never includes dairy or eggs, instead being primarily made from fruit juice or fruit purée.

The major difference between the two is that sherbet is made with dairy and sorbet isn't. Sherbet has more of a creamy texture that you'd expect from ice cream thanks to ingredients like milk, heavy cream, or buttermilk in the mix. Sorbet, on the other hand, is simply sugar and fruit.

"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.