Its a Lemon River!

Lemons!

Now is the time in our Californian suburb where the weather is warming up and the lemons are falling from all the heat. The results? Liquid gold! A fridge full of lemons, a kitchen smelling of lemons, the neighbors and friends responding, 'thanks, but please! no more lemons'. I'm being drowned by my river of lemons!

So many lemons that when I step outside, I slip and make lemon puree! So many lemons that my patio is more yellow than the sunlit Californian sky!

What can I do with so many lemons? Some options are: lemonade, lemon juice ice cubes for winter, lemon bars, lemon meringue, lemon tarts, Moroccan preserved lemons... But what about the rest? My last idea? Lemon sorbet! YUM!

Ice cream, has a thicker, more viscous texture made from higher fat content, allowing the incorporation of more air when it is mixed, and better holding of the air bubbles, making the ice cream softer when frozen and easier to scoop. Sorbet, however, is basically frozen, flavored sugar water. It usually has an icy, less smooth feel. Plus, sugar generally helps the ice cream from freezing solid into ice, so even 1/4 cup of many sorbets can be much more than a diabetic carbohydrate serving depending on the manufacturer. Many manufacturers add thickeners like egg yolks, corn starch, protein powders, gelatin, or pectin. The problem with many of these is their starchiness, also some have allergies to eggs, soy or dairy proteins, and Muslims and Jews cannot have the majority of gelatin due to its sources being mainly from pigs.Other manufacturers add an alcohol-base to the sorbet mixture to increase its freezing temperature (also not religiously appropriate).

To my sorbet, I want to reduce the amount of sugar I add (keeping my family healthy) and make sure the consistency is thick and creamy enough that it won't turn completely to ice upon freezing but will still provide a nice smooth mouth feel. Plus I want to stay away from allergens starches and gelatin.

The variety of lemon I use for desserts is called the Meyer lemon because of its sweeter, less tart flavor. This, along with adding a little distilled orange blossom water and the juice from an orange allows for the addition of less sugar. Then the question arises of what type of sugar? Well, naturally, I'll aim to make a simple syrup to impart a slight thickness to my sorbet and remove the graininess of natural sugar. Not exactly diabetic friendly, but that will depend on portion size as well.

To improve viscosity of the sorbet, I'll gradually incorporate a powdered gum base, so the addition of starches or other thickeners became unnecessary.

LEMON ORANGE SORBET

Ingredients

• Juice from 5 lemons (approx 3/4 cup)
• Juice of 1 large orange
• 1 tsp orange blossom water
• 1/2c water
• 3/4c simple syrup (recipe here)
• 2TB powdered gum mastic (also known as gum arabic or gum acacia)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a pot on low heat, and allow mixture to simmer until combined, but not boil.
2. Add to this powdered gum mastic and blend well, until any percieved lumps of gum powder have been dissolved. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. 
3. Place the cooled sorbet mixture in the ice cream maker bowl and blend for 30 minutes or until thick.

So, I've made another batch with orange-blossom honey instead of simple syrup, and the taste is phenomenal. Albeit not exactly my taste preference, but still imparting a wonderfully natural flavor to the sorbet. The texture of the sorbet is still not perfect: it remains a bit icy and doesn't maintain a ball shape when you freeze it. Regardless of perfect presentation, it tasted delicious!

Another option is for the addition of Agave nectar to the sorbet for a reduced sugar option. Instead of using simple syrup, I added 1/2c agave nectar. The results slightly darker yellow color sorbet (negligible), and no noticeable change in taste. Still the texture was the same: soft and fluffy, bot not a cohesive creamy texture.

 I'll post the third trial aimed at improving texture shortly. One goal is for an ice cream that doesn't crumble during my scooping, another is for the ice cream doesn't freeze solid. To this end, I intend to try one batch with added egg yolk, one with rice or corn starch, and one with the addition of orange-flavored liqueur (such as grand marnier), in addition to coconut milk for added smoothness.  Keep checking back!