Tangerine Sorbet With Sake

Perfect. I have lots of leftover tangerines and a huge bottle of never used saké. So far so great But like many people I do not possess an ice cream maker. What to do? Can you suggest an alternative, even if it involves hours of arm breaking manual whipping?

To make sorbet without and ice cream maker, I often use this method, which is similar to a granita: Choose a shallow (less than 1-inch deep) metal pan and freeze it for at least an hour before making the recipe. Pour the chilled base into the pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. Scrape the mixture with a fork, moving the sorbet from the edge to the center, every 30 minutes or so to break down the ice crystals.

How much sugar to juice? Keeping it simple, corrected proportions by weight for sugar and tangerine: 770g tangerine juice + 1 lemon juice 200g sugar 970 g total with 28 % sugar, including the sugar in the juice Metric weights make it easy to make more or less and keep the balance.

You seem knowledgeable, but I do not understand this note. Your note suggests that sugar is a better anti-freeze in this recipe than sake, and this recipe does not specify nearly enough sugar. But then it says the uncooked cornstarch in powdered sugar, which is called for, will create a pasty texture, which I'm guessing is to be avoided. So, more sugar or less? Powdered sugar or regular? And the final sentence "The juice of one mixed with the tangerine" The juice of one what?

Tangerine or mandarin orange sorbet can be delightful. Sugar is a more effective anti-freeze agent in sorbet, gelato and ice cream than alcohol. It needs to be between 24 and 30 percent of the mixture by weight. This NYTimes recipe contains about half the sugar needed to provide the right balance and prevent the sorbet from icing. The uncooked cornstarch in powdered sugar adds nothing but a pasty texture The juice of one mixed with the tangerine will prevent the mix from seeming too sweet .

Sorry, a bout the missing word. It's the juice of one lemon.

Need to remember that most sake is 15-16% alcohol while vodka (which you substituted) is 40% alcohol. I think therein lies your problem!

Corrected: Howard, sorbet needs between 24 and 30%t sugar by weight. So it needs a lot more sugar than the recipe suggests; 24% with make it icier, 30% will make it smoother. Use a metric scale to measure: to 224g sugar to 760g juice for 28% sugar mix (this takes into account the additional sugar in the juice). Metric makes it easy to make more or less and keep the balance. Use plain sugar instead of powdered sugar to eliminate the cornstarch. Sorry about the missing words: lemon juice.

To freeze without an ice cream maker, you can put the mixture in a bowl or pan and place in your freezer, then every 30-60 minutes or so (depending on how cold your freezer is) stir the mixture until it's finally all frozen. Interrupting the freezing process by stirring it helps prevent it from becoming one solid chunk. The texture will not be smooth like sorbet processed in an ice cream maker. But it will work.

Freeze mixture in shallow container until nearly solid. Put mixture in blender and break up until fluffy. Freeze until semi hard again. Blend again. Each time you process this in a blender you break up ice crystals and add air, making a smoother and lighter sorbet. Freeze until firm the last time you blend mixture.