Orange sherbet

An American classic: orange juice with a little milk and cream. Fresh as a sorbet, smooth as ice cream.

Sherbet sits between sorbet and ice cream. A little milk and cream give it creaminess and finer crystals, but it is still first and foremost a fruit dessert. In the USA it is precisely defined by law: 1–2 % milk fat and 2–5 % total milk solids. This recipe has slightly more fat (about 2.5 %) so that it is softer straight from a home freezer.

Type: Sherbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 500 g orange juice (fresh) (freshly squeezed, from 5–6 oranges)
  • 6 g grated orange zest (from 2 unwaxed oranges)
  • 170 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 30 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 20 g lemon juice (fresh)
  • 250 g whole milk 3.5 % (cold)
  • 50 g whipping cream 33 % (cold)

Making the mix

  1. Heat about 150 g of the orange juice with the sugar, dextrose and zest until the sugars dissolve. Leave to cool completely.
  2. Mix the syrup with the rest of the orange juice and the lemon juice and chill in the fridge.
  3. Whisking constantly, pour the cold milk and cream into the cold juice in a thin stream.
  4. Strain the mix (to remove the zest) and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

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 sherbet is thick and creamy like soft-serve.
  3. Transfer to a chilled container, cover the surface with cling film and leave to harden in the freezer for 2 hours.

Total time: 4 h 25 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.
  3. Churn for 20–25 minutes until the sherbet thickens.
  4. Transfer to a chilled container and leave to harden in the freezer for 3 hours.

Freeze the bowl at least 24 hours ahead. A mix with milk and acidic juice must be thoroughly chilled (to 5 °C or below).

Total time: 5 h 20 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 sherbet is crumbly, run Re-spin (many users add a spoonful of milk first).

Programme: Sorbet (or Lite Ice Cream)

The CREAMi shaves the frozen block, so it copes with a less sweet mix too. This version has 50 g less sugar (about 21 °Bx, below the usual sherbet range) — always re-process it (Re-spin) when it comes out of the freezer.

Total time: 26 h

Stages

Preparation
20 min
Cooking
5 min
Cooling
1 h 30 min
Churning
30 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
4 h 25 min

Serving and storage

Serve in a cone or in a glass with an orange slice. With vanilla ice cream and soda water it becomes an "orange float".

Best within 2 weeks, kept in a closed container with cling film on the surface. Do not refreeze once thawed.

Tips

  • To stop the milk curdling, first mix the juice with the sugar and only then pour in the cold milk while whisking constantly. Slight thickening is fine; flecks are not — they mean the milk or juice was warm.
  • Fruit and juices vary in sweetness. Taste the mix (it should be sweeter than seems right) or measure it with a refractometer — aim for about 25–28 °Bx — and add more sugar if needed.
  • Blood oranges give the sherbet a beautiful pink colour and a bolder flavour.

Why it works

Milk proteins and fat settle between the ice crystals and stop them growing together. Even a small amount of milk therefore makes sherbet creamier than sorbet and helps it hold a little more air. The acid from the orange thickens the milk slightly; if everything is cold and the milk is added slowly, it won’t curdle.

Sources