Easy Homemade Coconut Sorbet Recipe - Ice Cream From Scratch (2024)

FAQs

What is coconut sorbet made of? ›

Pour coconut milk into a container. Add water to the empty can, swirl, and pour into the container. Whisk in sugar until dissolved, then stir in coconut flakes. Cover and freeze until chilled, about 30 minutes.

If your sorbet is rock-hard after churning and freezing: Allow it to sit on the counter for 5 minutes to soften before scooping OR. Melt the base back down to liquid, add more sugar, or a bit of corn syrup, or a splash of alcohol, then re-churn and refreeze.

According to Serious Eats, the optimal sugar concentration for sorbet is 20-30%. Sugar dissolved in water lowers the freezing point of the mixture. The sweet spot of sorbet is all about adding enough sugar to prevent it from freezing solid, while not adding so much sugar that it won't solidify at all.

Tapioca starch (or corn starch): tapioca starch fis our go-to starch to thicken a sorbet mixture, for the velvety texture it creates. If you do not have tapioca starch, you can use corn starch instead, which is not the same, but it still works.

Sorbet is essentially made of a simple sugar syrup, infused with fruit puree or juice or another flavoring agent like coffee or chocolate, that is then chilled and churned.

Coconut cream tends to yield creamier results due to the higher fat content. We DO NOT recommend using Trader Joe's coconut milk or cream – the formulation has changed in recent years and is now more prone to separation and oiliness.

Stir in the cornstarch to the reserved ½ cup coconut milk until well combined. Add cornstarch/coconut milk mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cornstarch is completely cooked and ice cream base has thickened.

Sucrose is fairly sweet and doesn't add much body to a syrup. That's why pastry chefs look to liquid sugar like invert sugar, glucose, or dextrose, which all make sorbet creamier when used properly. The easiest alternative sugar—the one you can find in any American supermarket—is plain 'ol non-high-fructose corn syrup.

Why put egg white in sorbet? ›

The quality of the water is important as well — if your water has a bad aftertaste, so will your sorbet — so we recommend using bottled. The optional egg white helps to stabilize, emulsify, and preserve the texture of the sorbet if you are going to keep it in your freezer for a few days.

It gives the sorbet even more lemon flavor and just a touch of bitterness which nicely balances the sweet and sour. There is so much flavor in lemon peel it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

Sorbet has less calories than ice cream and other frozen desserts, and no fat. It's fruit content also makes it rich in vitamin C. Any downsides? That fruit content also means it contains a fair bit of sugar, and if we're comparing it with ice cream and gelato, it has less calcium, vitamin A and iron.

Too little sugar and the sorbet becomes icy, too much and it can be slushy — hit the sugar level just right and the sorbet will taste creamy and melt evenly across your tongue.

Too much sugar will not only make for a sickeningly sweet dessert, it also reduces the freezing point so that firstly, your sorbet will take ages to freeze, and secondly, it will crystallize as it freezes. Too little sugar and you end up with loads of crunchy ice crystals.

Sorbet has less calories than ice cream and other frozen desserts, and no fat. It's fruit content also makes it rich in vitamin C. Any downsides? That fruit content also means it contains a fair bit of sugar, and if we're comparing it with ice cream and gelato, it has less calcium, vitamin A and iron.

The sorbet is not only delicious but also a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream. It's vegan and dairy free, making it great for lactose intolerant individuals. There are lots of benefits of using plant-based ingredients, such as the richness of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in coconut milk.

The major difference between the two is that sherbet is made with dairy and sorbet isn't. Sherbet has more of a creamy texture that you'd expect from ice cream thanks to ingredients like milk, heavy cream, or buttermilk in the mix. Sorbet, on the other hand, is simply sugar and fruit.

One of the first frozen treats ever developed were ices (or sorbets), which essentially are a mixture of smooth ice, sugar, flavoring and other refreshing ingredients like fruit purees. A sorbet does not contain any dairy products and is more acidic, which results in tart flavors.