From an old recipe to an elegant digestive, sorbet is an essential step in copious dinners to refresh the palate, clean the bite and continue to gorge ourselves. It is that delicate border, half ice cream half champagne, that puts aside the first courses and the second ones.
The Berlin Wall of the Christmas dinners and wedding menus or, less prosaic, that velvet cord of posh nightclubs that, despite its simplicity, means ‘you can’t get in’. Wow, like what the wizard Gandalf does to the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Fortunately, the Christmas sherbet, more than an ice cream, is a old but effective anthology to which we can give more grace than we think. It is about playing with the balance of ice cream, not ice, using a decent sparkling wine and, above all, respecting its temperature.
In addition, with that Christmas grace, we have the tricks of a couple of chefs to illustrate how to make our sorbet be good, nice, cheap and also original and refreshing. Spoiler: as in almost any recipe; It is essential to use good ingredients.
An ice cream in conditions
If we are clear that a sorbet must be refreshing, we must ensure that the ice cream from which we start meets these premises. Because, they must be ice cream with fruit bases and not cream bases.
This is how Ignacio Sánchez Guerrero, chef of the Madrid restaurant Verdura & Brasa, belonging to the Oter Group, gives us a few ideas. “There are several ways and flavors to prepare them: mango, red fruits, orange, lemon … But the latter is always the most requested and the most popular, “he explains.
Mystery, the righteous. “The only secret you have is knowing what the precise measurements so that the flavor is the same as always, “he assures. Also, of course, that the ice cream is of quality and that it is not just ice, a common trick to make it more liquid and cheaper.
Not skimping on ice cream is the best idea because the texture must be dense enough not to be a drink, but without going too thick and that we cannot drink it, either with a straw or directly from the glass.
The liquid part
“Our measurements are three scoops of lemon ice cream, then we add a little sparkling water and at the end we add champagne, rum or cava “, explains the chef of Verdura y Brasa. A fundamental balance for which he also gives us a touch Borja Veguillas, group executive chef Pestana Hotels in Madrid.
In your case, explain the importance of “balancing the percentage of champagne or cava with ice cream“About half of each of them. And, we insist, it is key that the products we are using are of quality.
We can, for example, use a pink champagne to accompany a red fruit ice cream, that has that slightly acid but also sweet profile, and even decorating the rim of the glass with some fruit.
Tantum Ergo Pinot Noir Brut Nature.
More classical would be the bet of a sparkling white with a lemon ice cream, but taking into account that we should not overdo it with acidity. If we have a very acid cava or champagne (that’s why you have to use good products) and a lemon ice cream that is also acidic, we are going to do your stomach a disservice.
Mim Natura Brut Reserva Pinot Noir.
The straw should be refreshing, friendly and keep that ice cream point with a slightly alcoholic touch, but not to become a cocktail or a combined. In that sense, if we go over the acidity with the ice cream, it makes sense to help ourselves with a rum because it will soften the drink with the sweetness of the sugar.
Cygnus Giennah Brut Rose.
The same thing we could do with a orange or mango ice cream, especially sweet, to which we can give a slightly more acidic cava or champagne profile. In any case, without passing us.
The importance of time
Timing is everything when we enjoy a cold or freezer product. With the sorbet, half measures are not worth because we must ensure that it is creamy, that it does not lose its texture and that also do not crystallize too much in the freezer.
Therefore, Borja Veguillas’ trick is clear. “When it comes to mixing, always remove the ice cream from the freezer 30 minutes before consumption, to be able to mix it well and have that point between liquid and frozen “, he warns.
As a technique, it is enough to put it in a glass or stand mixer in which we can control the texture well. As topping, whatever we want; from a wedge of candied or dehydrated fruit to a twist of the orange peel itself, some fresh mango cubes or, as we said before, cut red fruit and put on the edge.
About the times of the shake, always before serving and not too far in advance. In the end, we are talking about a product that is made in a matter of seconds and that we can ‘plate’ very easily.
More Christmas recipes
Directly to the Palate we love these parties and we have thousands of recipes for you to be sure to hit your Christmas meals.
Don’t miss our special with the 215 best Christmas recipes and 16 special menus. And if you need ideas for specific dishes, here is a good starting point:
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Directly to the Paladar | The 215 best Christmas recipes and 16 special menus to get it right for sure
Directly to the Paladar | Cava, orange and lemon sorbet, Christmas recipe