Raspberry sorbet in a food processor (2024)

FAQs

Do you use a food processor or blender for sorbet? ›

"With that said, you should use blenders whenever you need to purée or liquefy large batches of food," she says. A countertop blender can make delicious smoothies, soups, sorbets, sauces, crushed ice co*cktails, and more. As a bonus, blenders don't use up as much kitchen space and are easy to clean.

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.

From a food blog: I often use egg whites to emulsify (smooth) my sorbets. I have also used lecithin and xanthan gum to great success when trying to not add extra liquid or worrying about someone who is allergic to egg whites. So it seems it makes ice cream creamy.

Making Perfectly Smooth Sorbet

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. There's a very simple way to tell if your sugar levels are right: Float a large egg in the sorbet base.

Some jobs are interchangeable between blenders and food processors, but the bowl/jar shape, blade function, and design are ultimately too different to consider the tools completely equal. Food processors can blend and purée ingredients, although they're not ideal for that.

Sugar doesn't just sweeten sorbet—it's also responsible for sorbet's structure. In ice cream, a combination of fat, protein, and sugar all influences ice cream's texture, but in sorbet sugar is the big fish.

Alcohol doesn't freeze, so it helps prevent sorbet from freezing solid. A little bit goes a long way. 1 to 3 Tablespoons per quart of sorbet is a good rule of thumb. If too much alcohol is added the sorbet will stay mushy.

Not only is sorbet a healthier alternative to ice cream, but it is also a dessert that can be enjoyed guilt-free. With no eggs or cream present in the recipe, sorbet contains fewer calories and less fat compared to traditional ice cream.

Using a little neutral alcohol will also affect the freezing (without actually affecting the flavour), will help fight the growth of the ice crystals and prevent the sorbet from freezing too hard. But it won't stop the air from abandoning the sorbet.

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.

What cancels out sugar? ›

Hydrate. Flush out all that sweet stuff from your system by hydrating ASAP with water or other low-sugar fluids, and foods high in water content. "Drink plenty of water and go for foods like watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and yogurt," Seaver says.

"It really depends on each person's individual dietary needs and what their health goals are," says Joy. "For example, if you're sensitive to eating dairy, then you should go for the sorbet. But if you're watching your blood-sugar levels, then sorbets aren't the best choice because they raise blood sugar quicker."

Primarily, a blender is used to puree or crush ice. Use a blender if your final product is something you can drink, such as a mocktail or protein shake, drizzle or dip. In addition to pureeing, a food processor can slice, grate, shred, dice and more.

Another tool for making smoothies is a food processor. Keep in mind that this method can work in a pinch but is not designed to crush ice and may not render the same smooth texture as a blender. KitchenAid brand offers food processors in a range of colors and sizes to help unleash possibilities in the kitchen.

A machine freezes the base quickly and the churning action breaks up ice crystals resulting in a smoother texture. This can also be somewhat accomplished by stirring and mashing the sorbet three or more times while it is freezing – and then stirring and mashing again right before serving.