Michelle Darmody: Try this sweet and simple mango sorbet recipe

This dessert is a great alternative to ice cream for those who avoid dairy

If the sorbet is for adults, you can add a tablespoon of light rum or vodka to the mixture!

I love the deep, rich colour of this Mango Sorbet. For this recipe, I reduce the sugar and water to make a syrup. There are easier ways to make sorbet, but I find this method gives the smoothest results. For those who do not enjoy, or cannot eat dairy, this is a good alternative to ice cream as it simply contains sugar, fruit and water.

Sorbet was first made with snow from the mountains high in Persia, mixed with fruit juices and honey. Traders introduced the dessert to Sicily at the time of the Renaissance, where it became popular with wealthy families.

The mangoes need to be soft and ripe for perfect results. Alfonso mangoes work nicely. When ready to eat, they drip juice, and their bright yellow-orange flesh is the perfect texture for making your sorbet smooth and luscious.

When choosing your passion fruits, it is good to look for ones that are heavy and have wrinkled skin, which indicates that they are ripe and juicy, and they also tend to be sweeter at this stage.

If the sorbet is for adults, you can add a tablespoon of light rum or vodka to the mixture. This helps the texture by lowering the freezing point and preventing big crystals from forming as the sorbet freezes.

Mango sorbet

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Sorbet is the epitome of refreshing coolness on a hot, sticky day. It has a tartness that ice cream cannot match.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 220g golden caster sugar

• 600mls water

• 2 limes, juice and zest

• 3 large, ripe mangos, skin and stones removed and flesh sliced

• 6 passion fruit, pulp removed and strained

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Method

1. Heat 220mls of water with the sugar over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Turn up the heat and reduce the liquid by half.

3. Take the saucepan off the heat and once slightly cooled add in the remaining 380 mls of water and set aside to cool completely.

4. Blitz the mango flesh with the strained pulp of the passion fruits, and the juice a zest of the limes. Blitz until smooth.

5. Blend the cooled sugar syrup into the mango mixture. Blitz until very smooth.

6. Scoop the mixture into a freezer-proof dish and freeze for at least four hours.

7. After this time, take it out of the freezer and scoop into a blender and blitz again. Refreeze until you are ready to serve.

8. Remove it from the freezer about ten minutes before you want to scoop it.

To get as much liquid from the passion fruits as possible, push the pulp through a sieve with a wooden spoon. You can leave the sieve sitting over a bowl so it drips in its own time but pressing will ensure you get the most from the fruit. You do not use the seeds in this recipe but they can be eaten or added to fruit and yogurt.

The mangoes need to be soft and ripe for optimal results. Hard or dry mangoes will not have the right texture or sweetness.

Making a syrup with the sugar and water before adding it to the mixture gives a smoother, less grainy finish to the sorbet. If it does turn out grainy however, it may be that the fruit to sugar ratio is not right. Sugar is like an antifreeze which helps your sorbet to stay soft and smooth. To remedy the graininess, you can blitz the frozen mixture a second time with about 100ml more syrup and then freeze it again.

Equally, if your sorbet turns out to be runny, you can blitz some more fruit pulp into it to stiffen it up.

If you have a stand mixture you can whisk the sorbet with a balloon whisk rather than using a blender. You will end up with a lighter result because air will be added as you whisk. Allow the sorbet to defrost for about fifteen minutes before scooping it into your mixer for whisking.

You can use an ice machine to make this recipe if you have one.

Warm your ice cream scoop or spoon in hot water to make scooping the sorbet a little easier.

The sorbet will last about two months in the freezer.

Delicious variations

Raspberry sorbet

In place of the mango and passionfruit add 600g of ripe raspberries. I like the raspberry seeds in the sorbet so I do not pass the fruit through a sieve, but this is an option if you prefer a smoother consistency. If you choose to strain the berries, you will lose about 100g in the sieve, so it is best to start with 700g if you want to use this method. Either way, blitz the raspberries with the sugar syrup as described in the master recipe. Instead of using the limes, use the zest and juice of one small orange.

Strawberry and rosewater sorbet

I have a weakness for Turkish Delight so I gravitate towards rosewater. It is not everyone’s favourite ingredient. I think it really adds to this sorbet but it can just as easily be made without it. Blitz 600g of ripe strawberries until smooth, then add your sugar syrup and 1.5 tbsp of rosewater. Blitz again and transfer to a freezer proof dish. You may have to blitz it two more times after it freezes to ensure you get it nice and smooth.