Somangon Sorbet
Yes the title sounds like a character’s name from Avatar but in my world of ice cream Pandora, it stands for Soju + Mango + Lemon Sorbet. I really want to work on my sorbets this year, make ‘em creamy, full of flavor, and not icy…and by golly I think I’m onto something.
Just as a reminder, sorbets differ from ice cream in that they don’t contain any dairy…no milk or cream. They are basically just fruit, sugar and water. With that kind of roster, sorbets run into the situation where there is nothing preventing it from freezing like an igloo. The fat in dairy breaks up the freezing process in ice cream leaving it creamy. (Wow this is getting very Bill Nye.) Being the texture/creamy freak that I am, I am always seeking to make a creamy, thick sorbet. [Insert: mission impossible music]
I started off with this guy…
Mango Man Mug Shot
(That pretty orange mouth is a sign of a perfectly ripe mango.)
I picked up two other mangoes, one was crap-o-la and the inside looked like a network of misguided intent, it was kind of stringy which makes me dry heave. The other mango wasn’t quite ripe enough but it had potential, so basically I had one good mango and a sidekick of potential. I scratched my head for a second and remembered I had frozen mangoes in the freezer…EUREKA! Poured half a bag of frozen mangoes and watched wonderful things happen. THICK. CREAMY. EDIBLE CEMENT. The frozen mangoes when blended turned into a wonderful thick spread which will come into play later.
I also introduced mango man to Soju man because alcohol, like fat, breaks up the freezing process.
Soju Man
The results….
Somangon Sorbet
IT WAS CREAMY. [arm pump]. I think a lot had to do with the frozen mangoes which gets the unicycle wheel in my brain turning. Let’s just say……..I AM PUMPED for spring and summer where my Pandora will be bustling with frozen novelties such as this.
Dollup of Somangon
Mangood Sorbet
Man this was good mango sorbet, hence the name. This was a request from a pal at work who at first claimed “oh I don’t want any ice cream.” Ew. She got sense back in her and requested mango sorbet:
Mango Mugshot
I love the skin of a mango, it’s like a hypercolor shirt, each day it could be a different color. My latest goal for sorbets is trying to make them creamier and less icy. I researched and found only a handful of suggestions: increase the sugar, use alcohol or use some chemical sugar thing. I actually try to use less sugar than most recipes call for in sorbets because I want the fruit to come out more and I don’t think it really needs it. Alcohol does work effectively but I tried something new this time, salt. It makes sense because think about when it snows and you want to melt the ice quickly, you throw salt on there. Granted this is edible salt but still it gets in there to break up the freezing process. EUREKA!
Mangood Sorbet
This photo is a wee bit deceiving, it wasn’t THIS wet and shiny. I took it about 15 minutes after I made it so it was glistening like Edward Cullen in the sun. Mangood did hold up though and was creamy after hours in the freezer. Would definitely make this again and would like to try it as a swirl with vanilla bean.
