7 Nov 11 (Mon - Holiday in-lieu of Hari Raya Haji) – Pomegranate Sorbet

I knew about this POM Wonderful pomegranate juice product for a long time but never gotten the chance to try. Giant was having it on offer last weekend at two bottles for $6 so asked my sis to get two bottles during her weekly grocery shopping. Drank one bottle while at her place and brought the other bottle home.

POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

Since I had slept well on both Saturday and Sunday nights so I was feeling extremely happy on Monday. Saw the bottle of pomegranate drink in my fridge and decided to try using it to make sorbet. Looked at the raspberry sorbet recipe that I had copied from The Little Teochew website and made some modifications to it.

As I was using pomegranate drink instead of fruit puree so I simply poured the juice and 2.5 tbsp sugar into a pot over low heat and stirred till the sugar dissolved. Then let the solution simmered for about 10-15 minutes before transferring them to a bowl to set aside to cool. After the solution had cooled, I put it into the freezer and took it out after about 45 minutes. There were crystals forming at the side of the solution so used a spoon to scrape them off into the solution before putting it back to the freezer.

After another 45 minutes, there were more crystals formed and the solution had started to harden slightly. Churned the mixture and put it back to the freezer. Repeated the process for a couple more times and during the last churned, the mixture was already close to the sorbet texture. Transferred the mixture from the bowl to one of those round dessert takeaway containers and left it in the freezer to freeze overnight.

Freshly out from the freezer...

... after a few photoshots.

Ingredients (Serves 5):

1 bottle of 236ml POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
2.5 tbsp sugar

Method:
1.  Pour pomegranate juice and sugar into a pot over low heat
2.  Stir the solution till sugar dissolve and simmer for another 10-15 mins
3.  Transfer to a container of your choice and set it aside to cool
4.  Once solution is cooled, put it into the freezer
5.  Take out after 45 mins to churn using a spoon and repeat this step for another 3 times
6.  Leave the mixture in the freezer overnight for it to firm

* You can adjust the amount of sugar to suit your sweetness level by doing taste test in step 2.

Difference between ice cream, sherbet and sorbet
Ice cream is made with milk, cream, sugar and eggs; Sherbet is made with fruit juice/puree, sugar, water and milk; Sorbet is made with fruit juice/puree, sugar and water.

---------------- Edited on 08 Nov 2011 ----------------

Once I got home, put down my stuff and quickly scooped some sorbet into the new cocktail glass that I bought from IKEA few days ago for photoshoot. I prefer to take photos with natural light and so I placed the glass of sorbet near the door to get some natural lighting. Yes, I know... I'm desperate... Anything for a good photo.

Later on, I brought it to the kitchen for another few more shots but the sorbet was melting fast and I could see that the color of the top part was fading. So a quick couple of shots before devouring the sorbet. It tasted like pomegranate. Lol. What can I say? It was sour and sweet altogether. I think it would probably taste better if it was eaten with ice cream, say... banana ice cream? Hehe...

Was wondering if it is normal for sorbet to melt so fast and so did a google. Found this website called "Encyclopedia of Food & Culture", particularly an entry on Sherbet and Sorbet. It says that "If too much sugar is present, the sorbet will not freeze properly." So I'm guessing that I probably have added a bit too much sugar such that though it had a slushy texture, it melts too fast. Read from a few more other websites and they all mentioned that sorbet should be served in chilled glasses or bowls so that it will not melt too fast. Now I know...