Pomegranate Sorbet

Reduced Pomegranate Sorbet — Stabilized

Ingredients

* 4 cups pomegranate juice, divided

* ¼ cup granulated sugar — about 50 g

* 3 tablespoons light corn syrup — about 60 g

* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

* 1/4 tsp citric acid

* 1/2 tsp vanilla

* Small pinch salt

* 0.6 g xanthan gum

* 0.3 g guar gum

Method

1. Put 2 cups pomegranate juice into a saucepan.

2. Simmer gently until reduced to approximately 1 cup. Avoid a vigorous boil; pomegranate can develop a cooked or slightly bitter character when heavily boiled.

3. While the reduction is still warm, stir in the sugar and corn syrup, salt, citric acid and vanilla until completely dissolved.

4. Add the remaining 2 cups fresh pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and salt.

5. Premix the xanthan and guar very thoroughly with about 1 tablespoon of additional sugar if available. This prevents the gums from forming little gelatinous lumps.

6. While blending the pomegranate mixture with an immersion blender or countertop blender, slowly sprinkle in the stabilizer mixture. Blend for about 20–30 seconds.

7. Refrigerate for an hour or two if convenient. This gives the guar gum time to hydrate fully.

8. Pour into the Creami Deluxe container, remaining below the MAX FILL line.

9. Freeze level for at least 24 hours.

10. Process using SORBET.

After the first spin, I would RE-SPIN without adding liquid if it appears crumbly. The corn syrup and stabilizer should make additional juice unnecessary in most cases.

Why the corn syrup helps

The approximately 3 tablespoons of light corn syrup serves several purposes:

* lowers the effective freezing point;

* reduces formation of large ice crystals;

* gives the sorbet more elasticity and body;

* makes it less rock-hard immediately out of the freezer;

* and contributes less perceived sweetness than adding the equivalent amount of sucrose.

For this recipe, I would not go much above ¼ cup corn syrup. Too much starts making the sorbet noticeably sticky or chewy.

If you want it less sweet

You could reduce the granulated sugar from ¼ cup to 3 tablespoons while keeping the 3 tablespoons of corn syrup. Because the juice has been concentrated, there should still be enough dissolved solids for good Creami performance.

My preferred formulation would be:

3 cups juice → partially reduced + ¼ cup sugar + 3 Tbsp corn syrup + 0.9 g xanthan/guar stabilizer.

That should give you a noticeably smoother, denser, more professional sorbet than the original juice-and-sugar formulation while preserving the sharp pomegranate character.