Orange ya glad there's sherbet?

Ingredients list for my local Harris Teeter store-brand orange sherbet:

MILK, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP,
HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, NONFAT DRY
MILK, ORANGE CONCENTRATE (ORANGE JUICE,
ORANGE PULP, CORN SYRUP, ORANGE OIL,
SODIUM BENZOATE [PRESERVATIVE]), CITRIC
ACID, LOCUST BEAN GUM, MONO- AND
DIGLYCERIDES, MODIFIED CELLULOSE, GUAR
GUM, POLYSORBATE 80, DEXTROSE, VITAMIN A
PALMITATE, ANNATTO COLOR, RED 40.

I like store-bought sherbet, but there's zippy chance I'd buying all that stuff. I'm not supposed to have high-fructose corn syrup anyway, so I had to come up with a different recipe. Important considerations:

• Type of juice
• Fresh squeezed or out of a jug?
• Type of dairy
• Half-and-half or milk?
• Buttermilk - yes or no?
• Ratio of juice to dairy
• Should there be some invert sugar?
• Lemon juice?
• Orange zest?

After much searching, the first question I tackled was juice-to-dairy ratio. Most recipes fall into one of three camps: 2-to-1, 2-to-1.5 (4-to-3), and 1-to-1. 2-to-1.5 is right in the middle, and it's Alton's sherbet ratio. That's a no-brainer.

I went with a jug of good-quality, pulp-free OJ from the mega-mart. I went with pulp-free so the kids would drink the leftover juice. If you want pulp, knock yourself out. Harris Teeter sees fit to add it, so who am I to judge?

Store-bought sherbet relies on a bunch of industrial food magic to get a good texture. I don't have any magic ingredients, so I decided to up the milkfat content a bit with a combo of half-and-half and buttermilk. Due to the high water content, I also decided to include an invert sugar in the hopes that the texture would be better. Kayro syrup to the rescue!

Orange Sherbet

• 2 cups high-quality, pulp-free orange juice
• 1 cup half-and-half
• ½ cup whole buttermilk
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup sugar
• 170g Kayro syrup

1. Whisk ingredients until the sugar is completely dissolved
2. Churn per manufacturer's directions
3. Place in an appropriate sealed container and “ripen” in the freezer for at least 4 hours

This sherbet turned out pretty good, but the vanilla flavor was stronger than I wanted. The texture was also harder than the store-bought stuff. I'm not sure I can get around the texture issue without resorting to “magic”. On the bright side, the texture was way better than a block of ice, and the orange flavor was pretty good. Next time, I'll try with less milkfat and no vanilla, just to see what happens.

Facts some might find interesting

• There's a legal definition of sherbet in the US. If you're interested, search the web for “21CFR135.140”. Of interest, sherbet must weight 6 lbs. per gallon or more and contain 1%-2% milkfat. I'm not selling it, so I'm not too worried about the rules.
• Where I grew up, most people called the stuff sherbert. Turns out, sherbert is just as valid a spelling as sherbet. For years I thought it was just a case of a phantom ‘R’ like the one in wash. Check out Merriam Webster for more info.

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