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.

Without fat from dairy or eggs, it's the suspension of sugar within the fruit purée that allows the sorbet to churn into something with a creamy mouthfeel. You need 20-30% sugar in your sorbet, which will come from your fruit plus some added sugar.

Too little sugar and you end up with loads of crunchy ice crystals. Some experts swear by a ratio of 4 cups puréed fruit to 1 cup sugar. If you don't have an ice-cream maker, place the sorbet mixture in a sealed container in the very coldest part of your freezer (usually at the bottom and back).

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.

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 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.

Sugar plays a larger roll in the sorbet than just sweetening the fruit juice. It's also crucial for the sorbet's texture. 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.

At its heart, sorbet is simply a frozen fruit syrup, but you can ramp it up a level and include whipped egg white or even mascarpone for a creamier result.

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.

In this recipe, we use tapioca starch to thicken the sorbet mixture, which gives a velvety texture to the sorbet, but you can use corn starch if this is what you have. Thickening the sorbet mixture with a starch gives it body, which makes the sorbet expand during churning and become fluffy.

How do you keep homemade sorbet from freezing solid? ›

1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur (this is for flavor, but it also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid. Alcohol won't freeze, so it is great insurance that you will have a soft sorbet.

Here are some tips for making creamy, non-icy homemade ice cream: Use plenty of fat - A good ice cream base should contain ample fat, usually from dairy like cream, whole milk, or egg yolks. More fat means a smoother texture. Cook the base - Heating the ice cream base deactivates enzymes that can make ice cream icy.

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.

Coconut Cream vs Coconut Milk

Compared to normal coconut milk, coconut cream has a much higher fat content, containing around 19-22% fat. Coconut cream still retains the delicious coconut flavor that coconut milk has, but is much thicker as it is essentially coconut milk with less water.

My ice cream is too hard

Homemade ice cream usually contains much less air than the stuff you buy in the store. Air keeps ice cream soft. So the less there is, the harder your ice cream. It can also be caused by low fat or sugar content.

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.

The difference between ice cream and sorbet is also based on whether or not dairy is used. Technically speaking, ice cream always contains cream and/or milk as its main ingredients, while sorbet traditionally never includes dairy or eggs, instead being primarily made from fruit juice or fruit purée.

"Sorbet is made with fruit but no dairy (eggs or milk/cream) so it's generally vegan-friendly and suits those with egg or dairy allergies, too," she says. The pureness of the fruit makes it icy and refreshing, and it won't be silky or rich in its texture as some other kinds of ice creams and sherberts may be.

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.