Rhubarb sorbet

A spring sorbet made from rhubarb — tangy, pink and surprisingly creamy.

Rhubarb is the first "fruit" of the garden, yet it contains almost no sugar of its own. It is stewed with sugar and dextrose and blended until smooth. The result is a sorbet that tastes like rhubarb cake. Red stalks give the prettiest colour.

Type: Sorbet · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 600 g rhubarb (stalks) (stalks without leaves, about 8 stalks)
  • 150 g water
  • 230 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 2 g pectin
  • 40 g dextrose (glucose powder)

Making the mix

  1. Wash the rhubarb and cut it into 2 cm pieces. Don’t peel young stalks; strip the stringy skin from older ones. Don’t use the leaves — they are not edible.
  2. Mix the sugar with the pectin. Heat the water, add the sugar and pectin, then the dextrose and rhubarb.
  3. Stew for 8–10 minutes until the rhubarb falls apart.
  4. Blend until smooth; if it is stringy, press it through a sieve. 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

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

Great with crumble topping, vanilla ice cream or fresh strawberries.

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

  • Rhubarb varies in acidity. Taste the mix, or measure it with a refractometer (target 26–29 °Bx), and add more sugar if needed.
  • You can replace half the rhubarb with strawberries — the sorbet will be sweeter, so use 30 g less sugar.
  • A piece of fresh ginger stewed with the rhubarb complements its flavour nicely.

Sources