1 post tagged “basil”
Inspired by The Minimalist's Banana Paletas and the price of fruit at Morse Market I took my first stab at making sorbet. A berry sorbet sounded best, but citrus fruit was much cheaper so I opted for the latter. I adapted two recipes; Orange Sorbet from Thomas Keller and Lime Basil Sorbet from Jamie Oliver. I started off both recipes with the same base; a simple syrup with 1 1/2 C of water and 1/2 C of sugar. In a sauce pan, bring to a boil over medium high heat while stirring occasionally. Allow to come to room temperature and then throw it in the fridge to chill.
First up is the orange sorbet. Keller prefers blood oranges, but I went for juice oranges as blood oranges weren't available. I actually juiced a few more oranges than below and I was still about a half cup short of the 3 C needed. I figured since I'm not baking this is close enough, much to my demise. The final sorbet ended up being too sweet and I think the extra juice would have made it just right. I'm sure you could just grab a jug of OJ, but fresh is best.
I juiced the oranges over a colander to catch the seeds and pulp and then strained it again through a smaller strainer to remove any pulp that made it through the first strain.
Like I said; I was a little short on juice and out of oranges, but I put the juice in the fridge to cool along with the simple syrup.
After about an hour run a fork through it and break up any chunks or ice. Repeat this process about once every half hour to hour for about three hours until the sorbet hardens. An ice cream machine will produce smaller crystals and ultimately a more enjoyable product, but isn't necessary. Keller is spot on with his original recommendation of blood oranges. The sweetness and flavor, not to mention color, would help elevate this to the level of perfection, rather than sweet ice.
Next up is the lime basil sorbet. As I noted earlier; I used the same simple syrup recipe, but this recipe originally called for equal parts water and sugar. I wanted a tarter sorbet, so I opted for a 3 to 1 water/sugar ratio, but with how tart this came out I think 1.5 C water and 1 C sugar would be ideal. First, zest 5 or 6 limes, then juice enough limes to yield 1 1/2 C of juice. This doesn't sound like a lot of juice, but doing it all by hand with only the aid of a spoon made me work up a sweat.
For a first try both turned out well, but neither were great. The orange sorbet was a little sweet due to the fact I was about a 1/2 C short on juice and the tartness of the lime. I would also add a little more basil to the lime sorbet as well. However, what they lacked individually, they made up for in combination. When I combined about 2/3 orange sorbet with 1/3 lime basil sorbet it was a near perfect combination of sweet and tart, not that I wouldn't want to improve on them in the future. I also read about 2 tablespoons of vodka per batch helps give it a smoother texture due to vodka's lower freezing point. I think my next attempt at sorbet will be utilizing this trick to help it be more like a sorbet and less like an icee.
