Apple Cider Sorbet Take 1

Keeping with the fall theme from my last post, I chose to make my first sorbet, Apple Cider.  While this doesn't seem like a scary idea, I was rather skeptical as to how it would turn out. Thinking back, I had never seen apple sorbet on a menu and given the choice I'll usually go for ice cream over a sorbet any day of the week. Confounding my skepticism is the fact that I was using sorbet and sherbert interchangeably in my searches. I had forgotten that while similar, they are much different; sherbert contains dairy while sorbet does not. A good explanation of the differences can be found on eNotes. Once I got the differences between the two straightened out, I honed in on my search; trying to find something that could be prepared while I was cooking dinner.

Ingredients

Nutritional Info
Serving Size 1/2 cup Servings 10
Calories 100
Fat 0g
Sat Fat 0g
Carbs 25g
Sugar 25g

• 6 cups apple cider
• a 3-inch cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup sugar

Modified from Epicurious 

Equipment

• 3qt pot
• Fine mesh sieve or strainer
• Whisk
• Measuring cup

Optional

• Large and medium bowl for ice bath

Instructions
In a large saucepan combine the cider, the cinnamon stick, the sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil for 10+ minutes. Reduce to 4 cups. Note, the cider will start to bubble and foam a bit, so adjust heat accordingly.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. This is an important step, that I learned first hand while making bourbon ice cream over the summer. While making the custard base, had walked away from the stove and the milk curdled a bit. At the time, I didn't have a strainer and poured the mixture into the ice cream machine unfiltered.  A few days later some friends were trying the ice cream and all asked, "what are the little frozen bits in the ice cream?!" Usually chunks are a good thing in ice cream (eg. cookie dough), but not chunks of cinnamon bark or curdled milk.

I put the bowl in an ice bath so that I could make the sorbet the same night.  After about 2 hours in the bath, the mixture was cold enough to be turned into sorbet. I left the sorbet mixture in the ice cream machine for about 25 minutes before transferring to containers.

Conclusions
To be honest, I was in such a rush to find a recipe and get the sorbet made that I settled on one that didn't require a lot of time or ingredients and I think the results showed. While I was happy with the result, I think there is plenty of room for improvement and will be making a second batch this weekend for comparison. Looking back on it now, I failed to consult my trustee Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book which tends to include corn syrup in each recipe. This I imagine will give the sorbet a smoother texture and make it easier to scoop. Apple Cider Sorbet Take Two coming up this week.

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