Summer Food Science: Sorbet (No ice cream freezer needed!)

 - by KitchenPantryScientist

Take your summer food game up a notch using… science! Sorbet recipe below. Vinaigrette recipe is in the post below this one.

&

Simple Freezer Strawberry Sorbet (adapted from Epicurious.com) 

30 minutes hands-on prep time, 8 hours start to finish

*Parental supervision required for boiling sugar syrup

You’ll need:

a shallow dish

1 quart strawberries 

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

What to do:

  1. Make a sugar syrup by bringing 1 cup sugar and 2 cups water to a boil in a heavy sauce pan. Boil for 5 minutes.
  2. Puree strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
  3. Add strawberries, lemon juice and orange juice to the sugar syrup.
  4. Pour mixture into a shallow dish and cool for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
  5. Put the chilled sorbet mix in the freezer for 6 hours, stirring every hour.
  6. Enjoy your sorbet!

The Science Behind the Fun:

In sorbet, sugar acts as an antifreeze agent, physically getting in the way of ice crystal formation to keep crystals small, so that you don’t end up with one big chunk of ice. Pre-chilling the mixture before freezing it allows it to freeze faster, which also encourages smaller crystals to form.

Leave a comment