Apricot (or peach) sorbet

A velvety sorbet made from briefly poached apricots. Peaches work the same way.

The apricots are briefly poached in the syrup — they soften, their flavour intensifies and the skins blend easily. A little pectin mixed into the sugar ensures a smooth sorbet even in a colder freezer. Overripe fruit that is past eating out of hand works well too.

Type: Sorbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 650 g apricots (stoned; or peaches)
  • 130 g water
  • 180 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 2 g pectin
  • 30 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 20 g lemon juice (fresh)

Making the mix

  1. Wash the apricots, halve them and remove the stones. Leave the skins on — they add colour.
  2. Mix the sugar with the pectin. Heat the water in a saucepan, add the sugar and pectin and the dextrose, then the apricots.
  3. Cover and simmer for 5–8 minutes until the apricots are soft.
  4. Blend with the lemon juice until completely smooth, leave to cool and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch the ice cream maker on 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Pour in the chilled mix (no higher than the fill line) and churn for 25–35 minutes until the sorbet is thick, glossy and holds its shape on a spoon.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 1–2 hours.

Total time: 4 h 55 min

Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker

  1. Take the frozen bowl out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
  2. With the machine running, pour in the well-chilled mix — no more than two thirds of the bowl; freeze the rest in a second batch.
  3. Churn for 20–25 minutes until the sorbet thickens into a dense ice slush. Churning longer is pointless — the bowl has already warmed up.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 3 hours.

Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours ahead. The mix must be fridge-cold (5 °C or below) — a lukewarm mix warms the bowl before the sorbet can set.

Total time: 5 h 50 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Pour the chilled mix into the CREAMi tub up to the MAX line (any extra into a second tub), put the lid on and freeze level for 24 hours.
  2. Put the tub in the machine and run the Sorbet program.
  3. If the sorbet is crumbly or powdery, add 1–2 tablespoons of water or juice and run Re-spin. Serve straight away.

Programme: Sorbet

Smooth over whatever is left in the tub, put the lid on and return it to the freezer; before serving again, run the Sorbet program or Re-spin once more.

Total time: 26 h 30 min

Method — No-machine method

  1. Pour the chilled mix into a shallow metal or glass container (3–4 cm deep) and put it in the freezer.
  2. After an hour, stir the mix thoroughly with a fork or a stick blender — work the frozen edges into the centre.
  3. Repeat every 30–45 minutes, 5–6 times in total, until the sorbet is thick and smooth.
  4. Finally, you can briefly whizz it in a food processor for an even smoother result. Leave to harden for an hour.

Without a machine, larger ice crystals grow and the sorbet is coarser. Each stir breaks them up — don’t skip any.

Total time: 7 h 25 min

Stages

Preparation
15 min
Cooking
10 min
Cooling
2 h
Churning
30 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
4 h 55 min

Serving and storage

Serve with slices of fresh apricot, toasted flaked almonds or a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Best within 1–2 weeks, kept in a closed container with cling film on the surface. After that the fruit flavour fades and the sorbet turns coarse. Do not refreeze once thawed.

Tips

  • Fruit is sometimes sweeter, sometimes more tart. Taste the mix before freezing — it should be a little sweeter than seems right, as the cold dulls sweetness. A refractometer measures it precisely (target 26–30 °Bx); if it is below 25, add sugar a tablespoon at a time.
  • Peaches have less acidity than apricots — add 10–15 g more lemon juice. You can slip the peach skins off after poaching.
  • A teaspoon of almond liqueur or a few drops of almond extract brings out the apricot flavour (liqueur for adults only).

Why it works

Pectin has to be brought to the boil to dissolve, so it is first mixed with the dry sugar (otherwise it forms gel lumps) and then cooked with the fruit. In sorbet, 0.2 % is enough: it binds free water, slows crystal growth during storage and makes the sorbet melt more slowly.

Sources