‘Old school’ Raspberry sorbet (prepared with Italian meringue)

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26 Responses

  1. Natalie says:

    If I understand it right, the egg test would not work if I plan to add the meringue at the end since the batch needs to contain less sugar. Secondly, this particular recipe states to use 75 ml less sugar in the base because the meringue will cover the rest. However, reading the recipe for the meringue, it contains 150 ml sugar and if divided by 4 would be about 37 ml. So I should only use 37 ml less and not 75 ml. Please correct me if I understood it wrong.

    • Anders says:

      Natalie,

      Since the aim here is to prepare a simple sugar syrup which is less sugary than normal to start with, the egg test could possibly be helpful by showing whether the egg stays under the surface (i e syrup not being “sorbet sweet”).

      But you are right about the measures – the text in the body of the post was misleading and has now been corrected (Thanks for spotting this!). Thus, and according to the recipe in the Italian meringue post, you should reduce the sugar for the simple syrup with about 40 ml.

  2. sam says:

    Hi! This is the website I go back to again and again. Can’t thank you enough for all the ice cream my family is eating :-)My question is could I use this same method for lemon sorbet? and if yes, what would be the solids in the recipe? Could I sue the lemon pulp? and what about measurements?

    • Anders says:

      Sam,

      Thanks for the kind words! I’m very happy to hear that you like the site and that it has served you well so far 🙂

      And yes, you could certainly use the same method for, basically, any sorbet: the main thing to keep in mind when applying the method to other sorbet recipes basically relates to the amount of sugar: as the Italian meringue also contain sugar, you would typically need to reduce the amount of sugar normally used for the sorbet itself accordingly. There won’t be much solids (which is as it should be with genuine lemon sorbet) but the Italian meringue will greatly boost the consistency anyway. To give you some ideas about measurements, I would suggest that you check out these recipes for lemon sorbet and lime sorbet. Best of luck!

  3. Jake says:

    1) Generally speaking, how long does it take to make “Italian meringue”?

    2) Is it REALLY true that an “Italian meringue” based sorbet will remain scoopable in freezer??? I find this hard to believe. What if the freezer is set to 0 degree???

    • Anders says:

      Jake,

      On plastic film: Well, necessary and necessary … the sorbet (and ice cream in general) will last better with plastic film: obviously, if you intend to enjoy your sorbet the very same day you prepared it or so, it won’t really be necessary. But if you plan on keeping it in the freezer for a couple of days or so, you are likely to appreciate the difference.

      On Italian meringue (1): Counting in some time for preparations, cooling down and all, a likely time to make Italian meringue could perhaps be estimated to about 30 minutes. But then again, this is likely to be affected by the experience of the maker: when I first made it, the time it took to go through the necessary steps in a correct way felt like an eternity (although, in reality, it probably was more like 40-45 minutes or so) 😉 . But once you get the hang of it (which well may happen after you have done it once), it tends to be so much easier the next time.

      Still, since it does take some efforts, it is a good idea to make an amount that will last you a bit once you’re at it: Italian meringue keeps quite well in the freezer, and adding some of your ready-made meringue to your sorbets is totally effortless 😉

      On the scoopability (2): Surely, any sorbet will freezer firmer the colder the freezer setting. But yes, the addition of Italian meringue does act to keep the sorbet softer than otherwise would be the case:

  4. Jake says:

    Is it necessary to cover with plastic film before putting in freezer??? Please explain why or why not.

  5. Catherine says:

    I made this today with a combination of fresh strawberries and peaches and it is out of this world delicious. Thanks for the super recipe!

  6. Donna says:

    I am playing with paw paw sorbet, I found your delightful website looking for ways to incorporate bourbon in the sorbet along with fruit, meringue mix. Paw paws are very seasonal, very and in short supply. My first batch was made with simple syrup, lemon and mint. Results okay but not wow!

  7. Donna says:

    Sorry, no question, how much bourbon, a percentage??

    • Anders says:

      Dear Donna,
      As a general rule of thumb, it is usually better to err on the side of caution when it comes to alcohol in sorbets (particularly when it comes to bourbon and other hard liquors): adding too much can easily turn your sorbet into something resembling Slush puppy, never ever freezing properly. I would suggest starting out with no more than, suggestively, 1-2 tablespoons of bourbon and see if that will do the trick for you!
      Ps. Sounds interesting, your Paw paw sorbet 🙂

  8. Leah says:

    Your sorbet recipe turned out great. I now have 3 portions of italian meringue in my freezer. Before I add them to my next sorbet, do I need to re-whip them? Or just de-frost and add?
    Thank you.

    • Anders says:

      Leah,
      Glad to hear it worked out so well for you! Next time, you only need to defrost the meringue a little and add it to the churning sorbet (no need to do any re-whipping).

  9. Amanda says:

    Hi! I would love to try out this technique, but is it possible to use when producing large, multi-gallon batches of sorbet? I’m having a hard time imagining how I would be able to take all of the base out, blend the meringue in, and then continue churning it with such a large amount. Any advice? Thank you!

    • Anders says:

      Hi Amanda,

      That ought to be possible, but exactly how – technically speaking – is probably something you would have to figure out depending on your specific piece of equipment (won’t your machine allow you to simply add the meringue to the almost-finished sorbet towards the end of the process?)

  10. andrea says:

    Best recipe ever my husband who is italian loved it. i made 2 different gelato recipes but this one with the meringue is the best. Do you have a book I could buy?

    • Anders says:

      Hi Andrea, and thanks so much for your kind words of appreciation! And until I get around to writing a book, I hope that you will find ample inspiration on the website 🙂

  11. Kat says:

    I just made this, along with peach, and mango, and tasted the raspberry- it’s all seeds! I was like DUH! Next time I will pass them through a drive then freeze that and start from there.

    • Anders says:

      Kat,
      Sorry to hear about those seed-strong raspberries: while berry seed-inclusion or not often tend to come down to one’s personal preferences, it is clear that straining (any) fruits with seeds is a good idea when aiming for the smoothest possible sorbet or ice cream. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your next batch!

  12. Michael says:

    Your sorbet recipe turned out great. I think applying this to many other fruits would be very delicious.
    Thanks Anders!

  13. Roses says:

    Oh. A glass of Raspberry sorbet and watching the beach in the summer. Great. Thank you for this recipe!

  14. Ferenc says:

    Dear Anders! How can I measure the sugar Brix metrix with a refractometer in this case? Just beacause the Italian meringue added in my ice cream batch freeser when the sorbet almost ready. You told another post that we have to measure the Brix of the sorbet basis before final freezing, and set it between 25-32% with extra sugar.

    • Anders says:

      Dear Ferenc,
      The short (and possibly disappointing) answer is that it will be quite difficult to measure the sugar with a refractometer in this case. For practical purposes, you would be better off trying to calculate the sugar amounts (the one for the sorbet and the addition coming from the meringue) based on your intended overall sugar amount. Luckily, for home-making purposes, your results should be nice and tasty even if you may end up deviating somewhat from the “ideal” sugar amount.

      If you nevertheless strive for perfection, you may try to do some “reverse engineering”: First establish the “perfect” amount of sugar by making the sorbet without any meringue. Equipped with how much total sugar should go into a “perfect” sorbet, you could then make another sorbet batch where you reduce the amount of sugar in the base to ensure that the added sugar of the meringue will bring the total up to “ideal” sugar amount you already have established.

  15. Brendon says:

    Seriously amazing! So easy and delicious! Thanks for sharing!

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