Want to get your summer off to a great start? Want a Tasty treat to tantalize your taste buds this season? Want a refreshing dessert to finish a family meal? If you answered ‘yes’ then you absolutely should try the delightful, creamy sorbet: sherbet.
Generally, sorbets are easy to make. Just grab your fruit of choice, freeze it and then turn it into puree by using a food processor, an immersion blender or a heavy duty blender. No need for an ice-cream maker.
What is sorbet?
Sorbets or Sherbets are a simple combination of fresh fruits or fruit juice and sugar. It is a frozen dessert made from sugar-sweetened water with flavoring: fruit juice, fruit puree, wine, liqueur or even honey. Just mix sugar with fruit puree and ice, you are good to go.
There are a number of recipes for sorbet. From raspberry sorbets, blueberry, strawberry and then to tropical sorbets like lemon, mango, watermelon sorbet, etc. There are just too many to mention here. However, I will share with you my favorite: Pina Colada. This type of sorbet is creamier as opposed to other sorbets because of the coconut milk. It is refreshing, satisfying, and quiet easy to make. Just follow my step-by-step guide and you will be surprised by how well you’ll perform.
Recipes for pina colada sorbet
5 servings
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of coconut milk about 13 ounce
1 can of crushed pineapples or 1 medium sized fresh pineapple
¼ lemon juice (flavour).
You will be learning two different easy methods of preparing creamy homemade pina colada sorbet. I found these methods out of my continuous adventures; I was curious and so I did a little bit of trial and error. The result is something I am happy to share with other prudent spenders like myself. Why buy a sorbet when you can make one for yourself that is pretty healthy and less expensive. Have fun, y’all.
Method 1
Step 1
Make a Syrup
Pour a cup of water into a saucepan. Add the sugar to it and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir and boil continuously for about a minute until the sugar dissolves and the liquid becomes clear. Switch off the stove and keep aside to cool.
Step 2
Freeze the pineapple
Open a can of pineapple and drain the water in a sieve. Spread or lay the pineapple over a baking sheet on a small tray and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Once the pineapple has turned into ice, bring it out and transfer into a blender.
Step 3
Blend all the ingredients
Put the pineapple in a heavy duty blender, add the coconut milk, squeeze the fresh lemon into it and add the syrup. Crunch until the mixture is very smooth. There should be no seed or lump. Now, put inside a freezer canister or a pint container and refrigerate overnight.
Method 2
Unlike the first method, the second method has four steps. And you may want to know, this method is my favorite method. What can I say about this method of making sorbet? First, I don’t need a heavy duty blender for this process since I won’t be crunching any ice. A simple immersion blender would do. Second, it takes about 20 minutes and everything is ready.
Step 1
Make pineapple puree
Open the can of pineapple and drain in a sieve before blending with either an immersion blender, or a food processor. If you are using a fresh pineapple, peel the pineapple and cut into small chunks or dice. Put inside a blender and blend until it becomes very smooth and brings out small bubbles.
Step 2
Make a syrup
Follow the process in method 1 above to make your syrup.
Step 3
Whisk syrup with pineapple puree
Now that your pineapple puree is ready, pour the syrup into a large bowl, add the pineapple puree, the coconut milk and the lemon. Then mix together with a balloon whisk until the ingredients forms a fine blend.
Step 4
Freeze
Put in pint containers, a freezer canister of an ice cream maker or any other container and chill for about 3 hours.
You can serve this frozen pina colada any way you’d like. Scoop with the aid of an ice-cream cutter and serve in a wine glass, a small fruit bowl or with waffles. You can add fresh mangoes to it or a liqueur. Start your summer right by treating your family to a great dessert.
Tips for a great pina colada sorbet
• Canned pineapple is preserved in pineapple juice or sugar syrup and needs to have the juice drained for better results.
• Open the can, scoop out the contents and put in a sieve.
• Place the sieve over a bowl to drain. Force out any residue with a spoon.
• For fresh pineapple, cut the bottom of the pineapple. Peel out every trace of the pine. Cut into small chunks. Pour the pineapple into a blender and blend until it becomes smooth and frothy.
• If you don’t like the coconut milk, you can use full cream milk, evaporated milk, yogurt, buttermilk, crème fraîche, or any other favorite creamy ingredient.
• And if necessary, add a little warm water to aid blending.
• Some like to add a measure of liquor or other alcohol. Add 1 to 3 tablespoons of wine, beer, or other liquor along with the simple syrup when mixing the fruit. Or after serving.
By the way, if you like this Pina colada sorbet, you can try these 4 Easy Fruit Sorbet Recipes.
Also, you can make your own coconut milk.
How to make fresh homemade coconut milk for your rich creamy sorbet
To make coconut milk, crack a small coconut open on a hard surface or with a hard object. Gently separate the coconut seed from the hard back with the aid of a kitchen knife. Cut into small dice cube and wash. Or shred with a hand grater. Next, transfer the coconut into a blender, add enough water to aid the blending process and blend until smooth.
Pour out the blended coconut into a bowl, add more water if necessary and allow to rest for 20 minutes. (I have noticed that leaving the coconut for some minutes actually aids the prep process. This gives the milk enough time to separate from the chaff. )
Gradually strain the milk from the chaff afterwards with this All Purpose Nut milk bag or a clean towel. Pour the blended coconut mixture into the bag or towel over a bowl. The milk should easily pass through the bag/towel. Ensure that you wrap the towel and squeeze out the coconut milk thoroughly over the bowl.
Store the milk in a refrigerator immediately if you are not using it immediately. Coconut milk quickly becomes stale.
Now that’s that. You have made yourself a fresh coconut milk for your sorbet.
Whichever fruit you may choose to turn into delicious sorbet, creamy or sweet homemade sorbet, I hope you enjoy it while you stay cool. And if you want to eat healthy and have to time to prepare your own meal, try Daily Harvest.
3 Responses
Yummy. Best ever!