There’s nothing better than your first bite into a cold, crisp apple. Its refreshing taste, mixed with the satisfying fullness of flavor is unmatched.
And apple sorbet only enhances all those amazing qualities. Each frozen spoonful is an explosion of icy, apple sensations!
Keep reading to learn how to make our apple sorbet recipe!
Ice Cream Maker Version Apple Sorbet
The first step in this apple sorbet recipe is to prepare your ice cream maker. It can take anywhere from 16 to 24 hours for the bowl to freeze completely. So always put it in the freezer the day before.
Prep Your Apples
The next day, gather five Golden Delicious Apples, a peeler, and a knife. You may not need all five of the apples, but it’s always better to have too many rather than too few.
Now peel, core, and dice your apples. You want the cubes to measure about half an inch, but it’s okay if they’re not perfect since you’ll be blending them soon enough.
Measure out four heaping cups of diced apples and store them in an air-tight bag with two tablespoons of lemon juice. The lemon will help stop them from going brown before you need them.
The next step in this apple sorbet recipe is to make your apple simple syrup!
Make Apple Simple Syrup
Throw the peels from your apples into a pot with six cups of water and a stick of cinnamon.
Place the covered pot on medium heat until it starts to boil. Then you can move it to a smaller burner and let it simmer uncovered until only a third of the liquid remains.
Feel free to take the cinnamon stick out early if you want your apple sorbet to taste less cinnamony.
While it cooks measure out one and a half cups of sugar into a bowl, for later.
When there are only two cups of water left in the pot, strain the peels and the cinnamon stick from the liquid.
Return the apple-flavored water to the pot and add in the sugar.
Cook this mixture until the sugar has fully dissolved. Then take it off the heat and let it cool for a bit.
Add the four cups of diced apples, your newly made apple syrup, and a pinch of salt to a blender and blend them together until the mixture becomes as smooth as possible. Keep in mind the finished product will always be a bit mealy since that’s just how apples are.
Making Apple Sorbet
Now, it’s time for the best part! Get your ice cream maker ready, with the sorbet close by, and grab the bowl from the freezer. You want the bowl to stay as cold as possible until the last minute. So you’ll need to act quickly once you take it out of the cold.
Assemble the ice cream machine, turn it on, and make sure that it’s spinning properly. Then you can pour the apple sorbet base into it and let it do its thing for 15 to 20 minutes.
Never pour your liquid base into the machine if it’s not already on and moving. With the bowl at its coldest, the liquid mixture will stick to the sides and bottom the minute you pour it in. Creating hard frozen clumps that could damage the blades.
Freeze the Sorbet
When the sorbet has thickened to almost an apple sauce-like consistency, it’s ready for the freezer. Seal it in an air-tight container and let it finish hardening for at least two hours.
Last but not least, serve up a few scoops and enjoy your freshly made apple sorbet!
Apple Sorbet Tips
Choosing the Right Apple
Apples are usually categorized by color since the color will have a big impact on the flavor and texture. When it comes to baking and freezing, you want your apples to be as tough as possible. That way they don’t get gritty and mushy during the process.
Yellow or green apples are the best choices. You could also use a bicolor apple, but your sorbet might not get as smooth as it would with a Golden Delicious or Granny Smith.
How to Store
Sorbets are generally pretty icy, so there’s not as much worry about how the cold freezer temperatures will affect the texture.
On average, you can leave your apple sorbet in the freezer for a month before it changes in any way. As long as you keep it in an air-tight container. And even after a month, it will still be very tasty!
When the texture does start to change too much for you to enjoy it on its own, use it as a base for a sweet, fruity smoothie! Or you can just give it a quick blend before eating it to break up the ice and soften it a bit.
How to Serve
There are endless amazing toppings that can make your apple sorbet experience even better!
If you’re looking for a bit more crunch, toasted pecans or walnuts pair perfectly with this sorbet’s fresh apple flavor. Or add some gooey yumminess with a drizzle of caramel sauce or apple butter. Even simple chocolate chips can be sprinkled on top to get that extra burst of sweetness.
For true apple lovers who want to take their apple sorbet experience to the next level, apple slices are the perfect spoons for enjoying your frozen dessert. And dried apple peels can add a little bit of umami if you want to combat some of the sweetness.
Once you have your toppings picked and you’ve waited 15 minutes for the apple sorbet to soften a bit from the freezer, all that’s left is to pick out your favorite bowl and enjoy this refreshing dessert!
Sorbet vs Smoothie
The main difference between apple sorbets and smoothies is the texture. No matter what you add to your smoothie, it tends to come out either creamier or juicier than a sorbet.
Even if you don’t use milk, there’s usually yogurt, banana, or some other ingredient in there that creates the thick texture smoothies are known for. A smoothie without one of those ingredients would need more liquid to blend, leaving you with a runnier finished product.
Sorbets are also made to have more of an icy texture. That’s why they often feel more refreshing than a smoothie. The crisp flavor of the fruit isn’t diluted with any juices or milks, so the taste comes out fresher.
How to Make Apple Sorbet Without an Ice Cream Maker
The average ice cream maker is made up of four parts. An electrified base that spins, a double-walled bowl filled with some sort of liquid solution, blades, and a cover.
When the bowl sits in the base it spins, while the cover keeps the blade in place so that they scrape along the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the sorbet is constantly moving and freezing evenly.
There are a few different methods that you can use to make sorbet without this machine. But most of them will take practice and time to get right. The simplest method is to pour your apple sorbet base into an air-tight container and place it in the freezer.
Every 15 to 20 minutes, take it out and use a potato masher to break up any chunks and stir the mixture. Before returning it to the freezer, make sure you smooth out the top of the sorbet as best you can and repeat this process until it’s completely frozen.
Enjoy Your Apple Sorbet!
Every day should end with a treat, and there’s no better treat than this apple sorbet! In each spoonful get fresh, sweet flavors that leave you wanting more.
If you’re looking for some help picking the perfect apple for your recipe, check out our article on Apple Varieties!
Refreshing & Delicious Apple Sorbet
Crisp and bursting with flavor, apple sorbet is a refreshing and delicious treat to enjoy any time of the year.
Ingredients
- 4-5 Golden Delicious apples
- 6 cups of water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cup of granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer 16 to 24 hours before you plan to use it
- Peel, core, and dice four to five Golden Delicious apples into half an inch sized chunks
- Place the diced apples in a freezer bag with two tablespoons of lemon juice and shake it to coat the apple chunks
- Pour six cups of water into a pot with the cinnamon stick and the apple peels
- Let this simmer on low heat until only a third of the liquid remains
- Strain the remaining two cups of water before pouring it back into the pot with 1 ½ cups of sugar
- Cook the mixture until the sugar has fully dissolved
- Blend the apple chunks and apple syrup together in a blender until it becomes as smooth as possible
- Grab the ice cream maker bowl from the freezer, assemble the pieces, and turn on the machine
- Pour in your apple sorbet and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the ice cream maker to process it
- Place your apple sorbet into an air-tight container and let it finish hardening in the freezer for at least 2 hours
- Enjoy your apple sorbet!
- About the Author
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With a bachelor’s in Communication Studies and months spent working in kitchens around the world, Liv Headley joined the Minneopa Orchards team ready to share recipe ideas that are sure to have you coming back for more.
From what ingredients can help tenderize that tough cut of meat to choosing the perfect plant variety to cater to your tastebuds, Liv’s passion for all things food-related will bring new and exciting angles to your cooking experience!
Liv can be reached at livheadleyfreelance@gmail.com