Blackcurrant sorbet

A deep purple, distinctly tart and fragrant sorbet made from a favourite garden fruit.

Blackcurrants have a strong aroma and plenty of acidity, so they can take more sugar than other fruit and their flavour doesn’t get lost in the cold. A short simmer releases the juice and colour, and the mix is then easy to press through a sieve. Frozen blackcurrants work too.

Type: Sorbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 500 g blackcurrants (stripped from the stalks)
  • 300 g water
  • 220 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 40 g glucose syrup (DE 40, 80 % solids)

Making the mix

  1. Strip the blackcurrants from their stalks, wash them and bring them to the boil with the water. Cook for 3 minutes until the berries burst.
  2. Stir in the sugar and glucose syrup until dissolved.
  3. Blend the mix and press it through a sieve to remove the skins and seeds.
  4. 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
20 min
Cooking
5 min
Cooling
2 h
Churning
30 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
4 h 55 min

Serving and storage

Goes well with dark chocolate, with a tvaroh (quark) cheesecake, or on its own as a refresher with a mint leaf.

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.
  • Redcurrants are more tart and less aromatic — mix them half and half with raspberries.
  • A spoonful of crème de cassis deepens the flavour and softens the sorbet (adults only).

Why it works

Blackcurrants are among the fruits richest in pectin. After cooking and sieving, enough soluble fibre remains in the mix to thicken the sorbet without an added stabiliser. The high acidity suppresses the perception of sweetness, which is why a sorbet with 27 % sugars doesn’t taste too sweet.

Sources