Sorbets; Simple Syrup - LELLO 5030 PoIa Instruction And Recipe Manual

Sorbets are smooth frozen ices made without milk or other dairy prod-
ucts. The beautiful, silky texture of a sorbet is at its best when freshly made
and still soft. It should never be rock hard and should always be free of ice
crystals. If you make it a few hours ahead, keep it frozen in the machine until
about 20 minutes before serving. Then turn the chilling switch off so the sorbet
will soften to the correct texture.
If you resist temptation and have leftover sorbet, store in the freezer.
When ready to serve, remove it from the freezer, break into chunks and beat in
a food processor until smooth and soft. Making sorbet is so quick and easy,
however, you can spoil yourself and always enjoy it fresh.
As you will see, many of these mixtures are made of just fruit puree,
simple syrup and lemon juice. If you have a large food processor, you can add
the syrup to the puree in the work bowl. If not, pour the puree into the bowl of
the machine and add the syrup and lemon juice to the puree. Stir to mix. Since
the flavor of fruits varies from batch to batch, always taste your mixture before
freezing and add more lemon juice or syrup as needed.
If you don't have the time to make simple syrup and let it cool, you can
sweeten the fruit puree with superfine sugar. (Granulated sugar will be too
gritty.)
While sorbets taste wonderful served in any shape, we like to see them
given a festive presentation. Spoon some fruit puree on a dessert plate so it
covers the center in a thin layer. Using two soup spoons, form the sorbet into
smooth egg-shaped balls. Arrange three scoops (different flavors and colors if
you have them) on the plate and garnish with a few pieces of fruit, sprigs of
mint or candied violets.
This is an exceedingly useful mixture to have on hand in the refrigerator.
Appropriately named, it is simply a mixture of sugar and water cooked
enough to dissolve the sugar and make a very light syrup. This guarantees that
you'll never have the graininess found in imperfectly dissolved sugar mixtures.
Since your goal is a frozen dessert, it will freeze faster if all the ingredients
are cold or at least room temperature to begin with. So, while making the
simple syrup takes only a few minutes, waiting for it to cool takes longer, and
making it ahead is a true timesaver.
Simple syrup has a practically endless life since there is nothing to spoil.
You can make a batch of any quantity, forget about it for months (although
fresh sorbets are so good you won't want to) and still be sure it's good.
4 cups sugar
4 cups water
Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and simmer until the sugar is
dissolved. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate in a covered jar.
Makes 1 generous quart.

SORBETS

Simple Syrup