Smooth Blueberry Lemon Sorbet

Andrew Munroe
Recipe Information smooth.
Add sorbet mixture to ice cream maker and
freeze according to manufacturer’s
instructions. Once sorbet is solid, transfer to
an airtight container and freeze for at least 2
hours before serving.
TIP! ​Setting the mixture in the freezer for
around 1 hour before putting it in the ice
cream maker helps the sorbet to set up
quicker. But make sure it doesn’t freeze!

Number of Servings: 4-5 Experiment: What Was Tested

For this sorbet recipe, I manipulated a
Simple Syrup simple ingredient, sugar, in hopes to affect
475 mL water the final smoothness of the frozen dessert. I
400 grams sugar started by creating three simple syrups with
Sorbet a varying degrees of sugar. All of the syrups
355 mL Simple Syrup contained 2 cups of water, but the sugar was
150 grams blueberries manipulated by about ½ cup, or 100 grams,
120 mL lemon juice in either direction, starting with a baseline of
.7 grams salt 2 cups. I was hoping that experimenting
Equipment: with the amount of sugar would change the
Ice Cream Maker final texture of the sorbet and create a
Blender smoother, creamier frozen dessert. For a
Saucepan smoother sorbet I found that an additional
* 100 grams sugar = ½ cup 100 grams of sugar on top of the base recipe
* 235 mL water = 1 cup reduced ice crystal size, and increased
overall softness. If you would enjoy a
Directions: smoother sorbet, I recommend adding more
Start by combining water and sugar in a sugar, but be warned, more sugar means
large saucepan over medium-high heat. more sweetness. If you wish for a
Bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat comparative sorbet, also add an additional
to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, 50 mL of lemon juice.
continuing to whisk, until sugar is dissolved.
Allow syrup to cool to room temperature. The Science Behind
Once mixture has cooled, transfer to a large Water is held together by hydrogen bonds,
bowl or container and cover. Place syrup in the strongest of intermolecular forces. When
refrigerator and refrigerate until reasonably enough energy is absorbed by H​2​O, the
chilled, about 2 hours. molecules vibrate so vigorously that these
Combine blueberries, lemon juice, salt and bonds are loosened, giving them space to
syrup in a mixer and blend until thoroughly bounce around and is what we consider the
liquid form or vapor form of water. When a
substance starts to freeze, energy is taken
out of the H​2​O, which leaves room for
hydrogen bonds to tighten, squeezing
together to form a solid. But by squeezing
together, the molecules do not become
disorganized. Instead, the hydrogen bonds
form a crystal lattice structure which we
know as ice.
When you dissolve sugar in water you get a
syrup with a lower freezing point than water
alone, and the more sugar a syrup contains,
the lower the freezing point becomes.For
example, as water is cooled to the freezing
point, its molecules become slower and
hydrogen bonds begin to stick more,
eventually creating a solid. But when we add
sugar to the water the ions attract to the
water molecules and interfere with the
formation of ice. As water starts to freeze in
a syrup, the unfrozen water essentially
becomes a more concentrated syrup. This
process continues until you have a bunch of
small ice crystals in an ocean of syrup so
concentrated that it'll never really freeze at
typical freezer temperatures. In order to
create a solid, the solution must be cooled to
an even lower temperature.Below is
showing the difference in pure ice and how
sugar interferes.
Small Ice Crystals
Why is it better to have smaller ice crystals?
Well, most of the time, ice crystals range in
size from about 1 to over 150 μm
(micrometers) in diameter, with an average
size of about 25 μm. Small ice crystals,
around 10 to 20 µm in size, is what we are
looking for because they give frozen
desserts their smooth and creamy texture.
Large crystals are not bad, however larger
ice crystals, bigger than 50 μm, give the
sorbet a grainy texture. While it is incredibly
hard to measure the size of these ice crystals
with conventional means, we can guess the
size based on the smoothness as well as the
softness of the substance.
But how do we achieve these creating these
small ice crystals? When more molecules
are present in the solution, such as when we
add sugar, the amount of ice formed is
reduced. This is because the sugar interferes
with the structure formation of the ice, such
as in the previous diagrams. When we
reduce the amount of ice formed, we
coincidently reduced the size of the ice
crystals, resulting in a smoother texture.
Data Analysis
I conducted a taste test to determine if a
higher sugar concentration yielded a
smoother sorbet and was considered better
overall. The data that was collected from
participants concluded that the sorbet with a
syrup that contained 2-½ cups sugar yielded
the smoothest texture. In addition to having
the smoothest texture, the sorbet with the
highest concentration of sugar was also the
sweetest. Surprisingly, the most preferred
sorbet was the one with the median amount
of sugar because it yielded a smooth texture
while not being overly sweet.
Personal Commentary
Sorbet, which starts as a fruit swinging from
a tree, or drooping from a bush, is special in
the way that it somehow finds its way into
our mouths. Here it transforms from a frozen
delicacy into a sticky sweet syrup. I enjoy
sorbet because it is a beauty in its’
simplicity. One fruit can go from hanging on
a vine or branch to being blended up with
some sugar to create a smooth, lovely
summertime refresher. I find sorbet to be
awesome because it’s a simple dessert made
from just a few ingredients that almost
anyone can enjoy, even those who are
lactose intolerant!

Boundless. “Boundless Chemistry.” Lumen,

courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-che
mistry/chapter/colligative-properties-of-none
lectrolyte-solutions/.

“The Effects of Solutes.” Freezing Point

Depression and Boiling Point Elevation: the
Effects of Solutes and of Pressure, School
of Physics ,
www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/fre
ezing-point-depression-boiling-point-elevatio
n.htm.