Mango sorbet with lime
Thick, creamy and fragrant — mango has so much flesh that the sorbet is almost like ice cream.
Ripe mango is dense and sweet, so it makes a sorbet with an almost creamy texture without a drop of milk. Lime balances the sweetness. Fragrant fruit that is soft to the touch is ideal; frozen diced mango works too.
Type: Sorbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy
Equipment
Ingredients
- 600 g mango (flesh) (flesh of 2–3 ripe mangoes)
- 230 g water
- 170 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
- 30 g dextrose (glucose powder)
- 30 g lime juice (fresh) (from 1–2 limes)
Making the mix
- Heat the water, sugar and dextrose, stirring until dissolved. Leave the syrup to cool.
- Peel the mango, cut the flesh away from the stone and chop it.
- Blend the flesh with the syrup and lime juice until completely smooth. If the mango is fibrous, press it through a sieve.
- Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Method — Compressor ice cream maker
- Switch the ice cream maker on 5–10 minutes ahead so the bowl can pre-chill.
- 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.
- Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 1–2 hours.
Total time: 3 h 50 min
Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker
- Take the frozen bowl out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
- 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.
- Churn for 20–25 minutes until the sorbet thickens into a dense ice slush. Churning longer is pointless — the bowl has already warmed up.
- 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: 4 h 45 min
Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines
- 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.
- Put the tub in the machine and run the Sorbet program.
- If the sorbet is crumbly or powdery, add 1–2 tablespoons of water or juice and run Re-spin. Serve straight away.
Programme: Sorbet
The CREAMi doesn’t stir the mix while it freezes; instead, its blade finely shaves the frozen block. It therefore copes with a less sweet mix too — this version has about a third less added sugar (around 20–23 °Bx, below the usual sorbet range). Straight from the freezer it is rock hard, so re-process it (Re-spin) before serving.
Total time: 25 h 25 min
Method — No-machine method
- Pour the chilled mix into a shallow metal or glass container (3–4 cm deep) and put it in the freezer.
- After an hour, stir the mix thoroughly with a fork or a stick blender — work the frozen edges into the centre.
- Repeat every 30–45 minutes, 5–6 times in total, until the sorbet is thick and smooth.
- 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: 6 h 20 min
Stages
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 5 min
- Cooling
- 1 h
- Churning
- 30 min
- Hardening in the freezer
- 2 h
- Total time
- 3 h 50 min
Serving and storage
Sprinkle with grated lime zest or a pinch of chilli and a little salt, the way mango is served in Mexico.
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.
- Smaller yellow mangoes (Ataulfo, Alphonso) have the most flavour. The large green-and-red ones tend to be less sweet.
- Replace some of the water with coconut milk for a tropical sherbet — it will contain more fat, though.