Cider sorbet

I have one of those little ice cream machines where you freeze the bowl and then churn ice cream using a paddle attached to a small electric motor.  It’s a fairly simple affair and it produces decent enough results, just not on the scale I really want.

A pint of ice cream doesn’t last very long at all in our house.

This sorbet lasted a little longer, mainly because it’s made out of cider and the kids were therefore banned from eating it.

It’s an extremely simple recipe, which came via Elle’s New England Kitchen.

Take one 500 or 568ml bottle of medium sweet cider, add a tablespoon or so of caster sugar and a good squeeze of lemon, stir to dissolve the sugar and then chill until very cold before churning in your ice cream machine.

Remember that freezing mutes sweet flavours, so the mix should taste a little too sweet.  It’ll mellow out as it churns.

After fifteen minutes or so, the sorbet will start to look like a sorbet.  A few minutes later, transfer it to a tub and freeze for another hour before beating and stirring it with a fork.  Repeat after another hour or so, if you remember.

The end result is a silky smooth sorbet that’s quite tart.  The flavour is entirely dependent on the type or brand of cider you use…mine was quite tart and zingy.

Be careful with this.  I was surprised to see bottles of cider on the shelves that nudged 8 or 9% ABV.  It can be potent stuff, and it doesn’t become any less alcoholic when you make a sorbet out of it.

Strictly no sorbet eating and driving, please.

Tagged as: cider, dessert, sorbet