Eaten in a cone, served with a piece of cake or scooped into a bowl – a generous scoop of mango sorbet is perfect for a swelteringly hot summer’s day.
Making homemade golden sorbet that’s vibrant and packed full of mango goodness is well within your reach. Forget those fancy ice cream makers; instead rustle up some fresh mangos and lime, as well as some water and sugar.
To make this sorbet, you don’t need any specialist equipment; however, you’ll need a blender and some space in the freezer to harden the finished dessert. Begin by finding the ripest, juiciest, most delicious looking mangoes on offer. Slice out the flesh and cut it into cubes then place them onto a lined oven tray and freeze until hardened.
While the mangoes freeze, make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a small saucepan and gently heating until dissolved. Remove this syrup from the stovetop and allow it to cool completely. You’ll only use one cup of this syrup in the mango sorbet so there may be a little leftover once you’re finished.
Add the mangoes, 1 cup of the sugar syrup, lime juice and salt to a blender and blitz until well combined. The consistency should be so smooth that you’re unable to see any pieces of mango.
Finally, scoop the mango puree into an airtight container and freeze for half an hour. Remove from the freezer, whisk the sorbet, then return it to continue freezing. Repeat this step once more, after 30 minutes, to ensure that the consistency is smooth, creamy, and ice crystal-free. Now you can sit back for another hour or two and wait for the sorbet to reach the texture of your dreams. Some like it nice and soft, others rock hard, so you decide what’s best for you.
How to improve your sorbet
If you’ve tried making sorbet before, you may have experienced “sorbet sorrow.” That sad feeling when your sorbet turns out hard, icy, and unpleasant. Sometimes it melts before you’ve put down the scoop! The issue is, sorbet contains no egg or fat so it can be unforgiving if you don’t follow the basic rules. Here are three fundamentals you must obey to lift your sorbet game.
1. Get the ratios right
Sugar is an essential building block of sorbet; without it, the texture will be icy and near impossible to scoop. If you go overboard on the sugar, the mixture probably won’t freeze.
Whatever sorbet you make, you’ll want to work with four parts fruit to one part sugar syrup. You can halve the sugar (or remove it altogether), but don’t expect a scoopable sorbet when it’s time to eat.
2. Focus on the Fruit
Sorbet is such a simple recipe that there is nowhere for the flavor of the fruit to hide. Search for the best quality, freshest mangoes you can find for this recipe. The taste you achieve will be far superior to the frozen fruit bought at the supermarket.
If you’re in the mood for extra tropical flavor, replace one cup of the mango with fresh papaya. The two fruits combine perfectly and create delicious sorbet.
3. Add alcohol
Adding a tablespoon or two of liquor when you’re blitzing the fruit is a good idea. It reduces the freezing point of the sorbet base resulting in a softer, more scoopable sorbet. Choose a good quality spirit that doesn’t impart flavor: vodka is a good choice. Keep in mind that your frozen dessert will quickly melt once it’s out of the freezer if you use alcohol; so work fast with the scooper.
Storing sorbet
When storing sorbet, be sure to use an airtight container. That will stop the funky aromas of other ingredients in the freezer, working their way into your precious dessert.
Also, remember that every time you open the freezer door, it causes temperature fluctuations. To fix this, you’ll want to place the sorbet at the back of the freezer. This area gets less affected by an open door.
Eat your sorbet within one week of freezing. After this time, the flavor quality and structure of the sorbet starts to go downhill.
Mango Sorbet Recipe
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Freezing: 2 hrs
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4
Ingredients
• 4 mangos, diced (approx. 4 cups)
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• A pinch of kosher salt
Method
1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Slice the mango flesh into cubes about 1″ thick and place onto the tray. Freeze until the fruit is hard.
2. Meanwhile, add the water and sugar to a small saucepan and slowly heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Add the frozen mango pieces, one cup of the sugar syrup, lime juice and salt to a blender and process until smooth. If you want to use alcohol, you can add a tablespoon of vodka or a similar spirit to the mixture and combine.
4. Eat the soft sorbet immediately or freeze for two hours until hardened.
