Peach Sorbet with Ginger

The peach sorbet scoops in a white bowl in front of peaches and a ginger root.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: European

Keyword: Peach, sorbet

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 35

Cooling the Sorbet: 6

Total Time: 7

Servings: 1/2-cup servings

Calories: 132kcal

Author: Marta Rivera

This refreshing, homemade Peach Sorbet is made with ripe yellow peaches, sweetened with a zingy ginger simple syrup.

Prep Time includes chilling the sorbet mixture for 6 hours. Quick-chill instructions are located in the notes section.

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Equipment

ice cream maker
fine mesh sieve

Ingredients

For the Ginger Simple Syrup (Can Be Made 1 Week Ahead)

2 cups (480 milliliters) water
2 cups (200 grams) granulated sugar
3 inch knob (75 grams) ginger washed and sliced into 1/8-inch thick coins

For the Peach Sorbet

5 large (2 pounds 2 ounces or 1 1/4 kilograms) yellow peaches pitted and chopped
2 cups (480 milliliters) water
1-1 1/2 cups (240-360 milliliters) ginger simple syrup
1/2 large lemon juiced (1 tablespoon or 15 milliliters)

Instructions

Prepare the Ginger Simple Syrup

Add the water, sugar, and ginger slices to a 3-quart sauce pot.
Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar crystals.
Once the sugar dissolves and the sugar syrup comes to a boil, continue cooking it for 30 seconds.
Turn off the stove and let the ginger steep in the simple syrup until the liquid cools.
Once the ginger simple syrup cools completely, remove the ginger slices and transfer the simple syrup to an airtight container or bottle.
You can store the ginger simple syrup in its container for 7-10 days in the refrigerator.

Cook the Peaches To Soften Them

Add the chopped peaches, water, and 1 cup (240 milliliters) of the ginger simple syrup to a 4-quart pan.
Bring the liquid in the pot up to a simmer over medium heat.
Simmer the peaches for 1 minute, then decrease the cooking temperature to medium-low.
Gently simmer the fruit for 10-12 minutes or until the peaches break down.

Strain the Juice and Pulp From the Peaches

Allow the cooked peaches to cool slightly.
Scoop up some pulp and liquid and pass it through a fine-mesh sieve. Use the bottom of a ladle or a rubber spatula to press the juices and pulp through the sieve, separating them from the peach skins.
Allow the peach mixture to cool completely, then add lemon juice and additional ginger simple syrup to taste. The amount of simple syrup you need to add will depend on how sweet your fresh peaches are.

Chill the Peach Sorbet Mix Before Churning

Refrigerate the sorbet mix in the bowl overnight or for at least 6 hours to ensure it's chilled thoroughly.
You can speed up this chilling process by submerging the bowl with the peach sorbet mixture in an ice bath.
Pour the chilled peach sorbet mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker.
Churn the sorbet according to the manufacturer's instructions for recommended times for sorbets, or 20 minutes.

Keep the Peach Sorbet Frozen Until Its Served

Scrape the churned sorbet into plastic containers once the ice cream maker stops.
After filling the containers with the peach sorbet, freeze them upside down to eliminate air pockets, encouraging ice crystals.
Remove the sorbet container from the freezer 5-10 minutes before you scoop it to allow it time to soften.
Use an ice cream scoop, dipped in water, and shake dry to scoop the sorbet out of the container and into dishes.
Scoop the sorbet into small bowls and enjoy it served as an intermezzo to cleanse your palate or as a light dessert option.

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

Replace the lemon juice with lime juice.
While you can use frozen peaches to make this sorbet, the finished product won't be as stable or have that fresh peach flavor. First, thaw, then chop the fruit before adding it to the pot with the water and ginger simple syrup.
Replace the peaches in this recipe with nectarines and make a nectarine sorbet instead.
You can also replace the yellow peaches with white peaches but don't add additional ginger simple syrup later in the recipe.
You can transfer the peach sorbet to a shallow container like a loaf pan if you don't have ice cream containers.

Tips, Techniques, and Troubleshooting:

Hand-pressing the fruit through the sieve allows you to extract pulp, pectin, and fiber from the peaches, which helps stabilize the sorbet, improving its texture after churning.
Peaches that are ripe enough will require less added ginger simple syrup, so you can save the rest for making cocktails.
The longer you churn the peach sorbet mix, the more ice crystals will develop so ensure the sorbet mix is completely cold before churning it.
You can make the peach sorbet mix 1-2 days ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to churn it.
This recipe's lack of added stabilizers means the peach sorbet will achieve a fluffy texture, which is perfect for scooping. It also means more overrun (yield), so your machine may overflow slightly. You can split the sorbet and churn it in two batches or just eat the overflow.
Troubleshooting:
- The great thing about sorbets is that you can churn them again without ruining the texture or quality.
- Hard sorbets result from insufficient sugar added to the sorbet mixture before churning. You can leave it out at room temperature for an additional 10 minutes to allow it to soften, then try to scoop it again. If it's still too hard:
  1. Allow the sorbet to melt completely.
  2. Add 1/4-1/2 cup (60-120 ml) of the ginger simple syrup to the mixture and churn it again.
- Crumbly sorbets are the result of not enough of the pectin and fiber from the fruit being added to the mixture before churning. To fix crumbly sorbet:
  1. Combine 1 teaspoon (4 grams) of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon (3 grams) of pectin, and 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
  2. Add this dry mix to 4 cups (1 quart or 1 liter) of the melted sorbet. Heat the mixture to dissolve the dry mixture.
  3. Allow the sorbet mixture to cool, then stir it into the rest of the sorbet mixture.
  4. Churn the mixture again to refreeze it.
The longer you freeze sorbets, the more the flavor and texture breaks down.
Peach sorbet makes an amazing bellini when scooped into flutes and served with sparkling wine.

Storage Instructions:

Store peach sorbet for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container in the freezer and away from strong odors.
It's better to melt the sorbet and re-churn it than to store it longer than 2 weeks.

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