Pear and Crabapple Sorbet

a scoop of crabapple-pear sorbet (photo by jhy)

You will need:

• 1 c crabapple juice
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 c coarsely chopped pears
• 2 T. fresh lemon or lime juice
• salt

saucepan shallow container such as 8x8 cake pan blender or food processor 32 oz. freezer container with lid spoons, spatulas, etc Let me explain, right at the start, that this was an experiment. I had never tried this before. My results were good, but not spectacular. I'm not sure I like this enough to make it regularly, because it has to be made with sugar, rather than a substitute, so that bumps the calories. However, I might make it for a special dessert for company. There are sorbet recipes available which use Splenda™ instead of sugar. I have not tried any of them. I suspect they would need to be eaten immediately after preparation because the reason a sorbet works is that the large sugar molecules prevent the product from forming ice crystals and just becoming a popsicle. Anyway, this recipe was adapted from one that uses cranberry and pears, and it's the real deal... all sugar.

crabapple-pear sorbet after first freezing, before blending (photo by jhy)

Heat 1 c. crabapple juice with 1 1/4 c water, and 3/4 c sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add pears and simmer until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, and then transfer it to a shallow pan. I used a square glass cake pan. Freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight, until solid. Break this mixture into chunks and put in food processor or blender. I only have a blender, and even though it's pretty new and powerful, it wasn't very happy with trying to blend this. I used the puree setting. I probably should have only done portions at a time. When the whole mixture is completely smooth, return to a container with a lid and store covered in the freezer. The less air space there is in the container, and the sooner you eat this after the second freezing, the better it will be.

a soft scoop of crabapple-pear sorbet- before second freezing (photo by jhy)

The taste was excellent, with a nice balance between the tart crabapples and the sweetness. The texture was what you would expect of a sorbet- less icy than sherbet, but similar. I ate some as soon as it was blended. At this point, it was too soft to make into a ball, so was just a blob in the dish. After freezing for another day, I was able to roll up a ball with an ice cream scoop. However, it softened very quickly, and you can see in the top picture that the scoop is already losing its shape. That was after fewer than 2 minutes! Of course, sorbet does give you a frozen dessert option without the fat content. I'll have to try a sorbet with one of the recipes designed to use a sugar substitute, and compare the product. It looks like you could get about 6-8 scoops (servings) out of this recipe.