What’s the difference between ice cream, gelato, sorbet, sherbet, granita – oh my?! According to the Kitchn:
“Ice cream has a custard base of milk, cream, sugar, and (typically) egg yolks. Churning this base as it cools gives it a smooth texture and incorporates air into the ice cream. The finished product is smooth, light-textured, and creamy.
Gelato starts out with a similar ice cream custard base, but it’s churned slower and frozen at a slightly warmer temperature. The slow churning incorporates less air, so the gelato is more dense. The higher freezing temperature means that the gelato stays silkier and softer. It’s also more likely for gelato to use a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or none at all) so that the main flavor ingredient shines through.
Sorbets are dairy-free and egg-free, and are made from fruit juice or flavored water and simple syrup. They’re churned like ice cream to give them a soft and snowy texture.
Sherbets are basically the same as sorbets but are usually made with some amount of milk or cream in addition to the fruit juice.
Granitas are exactly like sorbets except they’re made by hand. The liquid base is poured into a shallow dish and frozen. At intervals, the base is stirred or raked with a fork to break up the ice crystals as they form. The result is a frozen dessert with a coarse and flaky texture.”
Regardless of how it’s made or what it’s called, I’m guessing we’ve all enjoyed at least one kind of frozen treat in our lifetime! You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t put their sweet lips on these babies! The ice flakes that surrender to the sweet citrus juice when you crack through the frozen top…Muah! They are just dee-licious!
Since we have very limited space in our condo flat AND our locker is filled to the gills with the kids’ stuff, I don’t own an ice cream maker (although I wish I did, sob sob)! However, that never stops me from making what I am “qualified” to make (according to definition): granita!
I promise, this is so SO easy and it does not require an ice cream maker! And hey, if you can’t find blood oranges, you can easily substitute with regular Navel oranges or even grapefruit or pomelo!
| Blood Orange Granita |
|
- Juice of 3 pounds blood oranges, or approximately 2 cups juice
- zest of 2 blood oranges
- 2/3 cup (5 oz or 160 ml) water*
- 2/3 cup (150 g) sugar
- Heat the juice, zest, water, and sugar until very hot and sugar has dissolved. Do not boil or it will get bitter.
- Remove syrup from heat and pour into a container with a lid. Leave the syrup to cool on the countertop, but do not put the lid on. Once cooled down, place in the freezer.
- Scale or scrape the ice along the edges and on top with a fork in order to release the ice crystals. Stir the syrup well. Repeat this every 30 minutes for 4 to 5 hours, or until the right consistency is achieved.
- If you have an ice cream maker, you can churn it according to manufacturer’s instructions**.
* use up to 1 cup (225 grams) sugar, depending on the sweetness of your blood oranges. The sweeter the fruit, the less sugar you need.
**If you churn this in an ice cream maker, this becomes a sorbet! Yum!
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Not only it is easy to make but it looks pretty and delicious! You always make me lost for few seconds while I’m staring at your beautiful photography thinking which one to pin.
Thanks for sharing the difference. I thought we (Japanese) call sorbet “sharbets” and I didn’t know that’s actually English word – I thought we invented it because we can’t say sorbet… how silly of me! I rarely encounter the word sharbets…but I do in Japan, and not “sorbet”… Thanks for clarification! Gorgeous photography as always!
Beautiful flavours, gorgeous styling! It’s winter here in Oz, but I’d still eat this wrapped in a scarf
PERFECT for summer in the Philippines!!!! I should try making granita one of these days — I read a post from Marketman for champagne granita!
I am going to have some Masatami Shave Ice soon and will feature on the blog…it’s a food cart owned by Che Co and Michelle Chang, it’s like snow ice!
Just right for our very hot summer!
Such lovely photos Jen and ahh I see those beautiful, covetable glasses too!
I haven’t worked with blood oranges but your granita is just lovely. What a refreshing treat!
This sounds so refreshing and delicious. Perfectly fruity and great for a hot day!
Granitas are fabulous–no need to feel bad about not owning an ice cream maker when you can make your iced treats this beautiful.
Have a great weekend, Jen!
Gorgeous colors – so bright and cheerful! When we finally get some summer weather, I’ll have to try my hand at a refreshing granita
Ooo this actually doesn’t sound too hard to make! Maybe I will try this. Do you think you could sub in other fruits like strawberries or mango?
Granite are wonderful in summer to cool you off and it’s also breakfast in Sicily. We spent last summer eating lemon granita every morning. I never tried oranges before but it seems like a good alternative. And the colors are fantastic! Love the pics!
In a word: gorgeous! Beautiful and so simple, too. It is supposed to get hot next week, so I will be cooling off with some granites for sure.
The color of this dish looks like a party in the making.
Thanks for the cold treats definitions. I’ve always had troubles guessing between sorbets and sherbets.
We have a Gelateria downtown, makes the best gelato EVER! Every time we pass it we end up buying some, no matter if it’s December or July.
Your granita looks beautiful. I love blood oranges and I bet they taste amazing in this cold treat
This granita looks absolutely awesome! I love the colour vibrancy and it looks so refreshing
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Your granita looks incredible and I love your photos and styling! I adore blood oranges and I only wish the season lasted longer. I found blood orange juice imported from Italy at Whole Foods that is supreme – perhaps that might taste good in the granita. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!!
I love this, so pretty and the kids would like it too. Not too sweet and no heavy cream or heavy guilt
Hope you are having a good weekend. Beautiful photos!
i love a granita + this one looks divine – perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having, too!
Absolutely gorgeous!!! As a huge fan of blood oranges I so want to grab a spoon and dive right in. I have to say your photos are absolutely stunningly beautiful too.
wow, your description makes me drool. There can never be too much frozen desserts!
Wow this is a perfect summer dessert.
Yum!! So beautiful! I just made a granita too! My girls went nuts for it!
Thank you for this post! Now I know the difference! But I work at a grocery store, and we also sell “ice milk”. Everyone is always asking me what the difference between ice milk and ice cream is, and I honestly still have no clue.
This looks SO good! It is starting to get warmer, and this is the perfect cure. YUM!
Hi Jen – great post, thanks for clearing up the difference between gelato, sorbet, sherbet etc.! The granita looks gorgeous but i’ll have to put in the backburner til Aussie summer comes round (which can’t come soon enough). Also, your food photography just keeps getting better and better! Liz
I could stare at your photography all day (I stared at the stunning granita brimmed cups for…idk, 15 minutes)?! I’m so glad we found each other. I hope you and your beautiful babies are having a great weekend!
what is the garnish?