Reminiscent of mulling spices, the spices in this orange sorbet make it a winter-time treat. This sorbet is wonderful after Turkey Vindaloo - another recipe you can find in the recipe index. This recipe produces an initially soft sorbet that freezes solid after it has been in the freezer for a couple of hours.
Ingredients (makes 1 litre sorbet)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 4 large navel oranges
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 egg white
Instructions for Orange Spice Sorbet
Combine sugar and water in saucepan.
Remove the zest from the oranges - trying to avoid the white underneath. Use a vegetable peeler to get large pieces, or use a grater to get small pieces, the zest will be strained out of the sorbet before freezing, so it's your choice, but it will take less time if you use the vegetable peeler.
Add the orange zest, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg to the sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain out the orange zest and spices.
Cool the spiced sugar water completely by putting in the fridge overnight.
Juice the oranges. Strain to remove any seeds or pulp.
Cool the orange juice completely by putting in the fridge overnight.
Stir the spiced sugar water and the orange juice together. Start ice cream maker and pour mixture into it.
After about 15 minutes whisk the egg white until foamy and add to the sorbet. This is typically optional for sorbet - if you do not want raw egg in the sorbet, you do not need to add the egg white - but in this recipe it adds some needed air to the sorbet, so I do not recommend leaving out the egg white.
The ice cream maker will likely not stop by itself, because the sorbet does not become really solid inside the ice cream maker. Take the sorbet out of the ice cream maker and transfer to a container for freezing after about 1/2 hour of churning.
After the sorbet has been in the freezer for at least an hour, spoon the sorbet into bowls and enjoy!