Sorbet: Tips for Making a Low Sugar Dessert

Few things are more satisfying than a cup of smooth, cold sorbet on a warm and relaxing day. I love to make and eat sorbet, but there is a potential downside. Unlike ice cream, sorbet has neither fat nor lactose; but just like ice cream, sorbet has lots and lots of sugar. When making sorbet, in order to get consistently creamy texture, I would sometimes add up to one full cup of sugar for every cup of juice. Of course, the amount I added depended on the juice I was using, but that is still too much sugar. Now that I am trying to eat healthier, I have turned to a low sugar alternative.

Being on a low sugar diet, I decided to look at my local grocery store for sorbet that had reduced sugar content. Not only was the sugar levels similar to what I had been making at home, but there were other additives. Many of which I had not encountered since chemistry lab in college! The solution? Make your own sorbet, but replace the sugar with agave nectar. Agave nectar (sometimes called agave syrup) is a natural sweetener that is 1.4 times sweeter than white sugar, according to the Madhava company that makes the nectar. That means that you can immediately reduce the amount of sweetener needed in the recipe by 40%. To get the creamy texture, be sure to use the whole fruit instead of just fruit juice. Homemade sorbet is an easy to make treat that is delicious and healthy.

Desserts Food

What you will need:

Fruit (or fruit juice) of your choice

Agave Nectar (or sugar)

Food processor or ice cream maker

Water (only if you are making lemon or lime sorbet)

There are two ways of making sorbet - with a food processor or an ice cream maker. To make it with a food processor, simply mix the fruit and sugar together in the food processor. Put the mixture into plastic containers and place it in the freezer. After it has frozen, take the containers out and run it back through the food processor. This will yield more of a gelato consistency with a little bit of a crunch. To use the ice cream maker, mix the fruit and sugar together, then put the mixture in the refrigerator for a couple hours to chill. After it is chilled, transfer the mixture to the ice cream maker and let the machine do the work of mixing and freezing. This will yield a creamy consistency that melts on the tongue. My personal favorite is a combination of the two! Puree three fourths cup of agave nectar for every cup of fresh fruit in a food processor. Then chill the mixture in the refrigerator and finish it off with the ice cream maker. By using the whole fruit, the sorbet turns out thicker, and you also get to keep all the nutrients!

The next time your sweet tooth comes calling, think of this homemade sorbet to satisfy your craving without sacrificing your diet.

Sorbet: Tips for Making a Low Sugar Dessert

Rebecca G Johnson is a business consultant and has been making sorbets for over 5 years. For more great tips check out http://www.sorbetsite.com

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Summer Entertaining Idea - Acai Berry Sorbet

With summer in full swing, many people will be entertaining and feeding guests. After the delicious BBQ or other meal, many hosts will want to serve a dessert to end the meal on a sweet note. On these hot days and warm summer nights, many hosts will be thinking of cold desserts: ice-cream, sorbet, gelato, etc. These desserts are favorites of summer, and for good reason.

On the other hand, many guests are health conscious these days. People don't want empty, sugary or fat calories. Many hosts, in response to this are serving fruit based sorbets rather than more fattening ice cream. Sorbets are delicous, refreshing frozen fruit pulps. They are natural and nutritous. What could be better?

Well here is the tip. One of the latest heath trends it to increase the consumption of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are compounds that occur naturally in many foods. Anti-oxidants have the capability to inhibit the damaging action of free radicals. Nutritionists tell us that a lot of cell damage is caused by the destructive action of free radicals, and they recommend eating 3000-5000 ORAC units per day (ORAC is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity- a means of indexing the anti-oxidant capibility of foods).

One of the recent most popular high ORAC foods is the acai (pronounced "assa-hee") berry from Brazil. The acai berry has one of the highest ORAC scores of any fruit known to date, and beats pomegranate, blueberry, cranberry, etc. And acai has been popular in large Brazilian cities for almost 20 years, so the Brazilians know how to serve acai well. On of the most popular forms in Brazil is the acai bowl, which is basically frozen acai pulp mixed with guarana syrup (a common flavorant in Brazil made from the gurana fruit seed), and cane sugar. The resulting mixture is mainly acai pulp, and has a pleasant sorbet like texture and very nice berry flavor, similar, but distinct from blue-berry. Normally in Brazil , the acai bowl is served with sliced bananas and a sprinkle of granola.

Acai Roots, a company in San Diego run by Brazilians who were raised on acai bowls in Rio de Jainero, produces an excellent acai puree mixture [http://www.acai-berry.tv/acaipulp.html] in the style of the Brazilian acai bowl. As for cost, based on the 7.2 pound size (about 36 servings) priced in July 2008, the cost is 39.4 cents per ounce. One serving is considered 100 grams (about 3.4 ounces). I surveyed sorbets from netgrocers.com, and they ranged from 33.7 (Haagen Daaz raspberry) to 42.2 (Cia Bella Raspberry) cents per ounce. Frozen fruit purees of raspberry went from 43.1 cents per ounce to $1.42 per ounce on different websites!

Impress your health conscious guests by serving them acai bowls (acai sorbet). They will appreciate your thinking about their health, and for many, it will be their first chance to try acai.

To find out more about acai pulp and acai in general, visit Acai Berry TV

Mark Wyatt

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