Pear (Ginger) Sorbet
Just a hint of ginger.
Note: I’m still on vacation until next week. I made this sorbet in mid May in preparation for being out of town. I probably should have done this back in the fall during peak pear season, but alas, things don’t always work out the way they should. Luckily, I got some good Bartlett pears from Whole Foods, which led to good results.
This week’s pear sorbet recipe comes to us courtesy of blog mainstay David Lebovitz. His recipe is pretty basic: pears, sugar, water, and lemon juice. I decided to continue being fussy by adding corn syrup and guar gum for improved consistency / scoopability. I didn’t have any lemons on hand, so I skipped the lemon juice.
You may be asking yourself: how did those pears get peeled, chopped, and into that pot? By coring, peeling, and chopping some pears at 6:45am…five pears to be exact.
Once the pears are prepped, you toss them into a pot with some water (1.25 cups) and some sugar (2/3 cup). As is now my habit, I subbed out two tablespoons of sugar and replaced it with 2 tablespoons of corn syrup.
As you can see on the bottom left, I also threw in two slices of ginger, kind of on a whim. I just thought it would go well with the pear flavor…and I was proven correct, but we’ll get to that.
Once the pears were cooked, I removed the ginger slices and pureed it until it was very smooth. I also added a bit of guar gum (1/4 tsp). Once that’s done, you chill it in the fridge until it’s ready to churn.
Here’s the requisite churning video…
…And the final results.
We shared this with some friends who had us over their place for dinner. It wasn’t as popular as the passionfruit ice cream that we also brought along with us to share, but in my view, I thought it was much, much better. In fact, of all the sorbets I’ve made this past year, I would say this one is my favorite. I love the flavor of cooked pears, and with just a hint of ginger, I thought the taste was outstanding. It reminded a bit of the tangy taste of canned pears in syrup, which I really like and would eat on occasion during my childhood. I think the lemon juice would have made it even better, but I thought it was incredibly tasty even without it. This one is definitely a keeper.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with another peach flavor, or perhaps a new flavor inspired by our travels over the past two weeks.
See you then!