The Secrets to Sorbets and Ice Cream "Unrevealed".

It's the 4th week of school and things have been picking up speed. This week our focuses were on ice creams and sorbets. To start, we have learned acknowledge that to make a proper sorbet, you cannot use a universal sorbet syrup. This, of course, doesn't mean the universal sorbet syrup is ineffective in sorbet makings. But to achieve the proper texture, richness and creaminess of a fruit sorbet, there is a specific formula for each individual fruit or flavour. And this rule also happens to apply to ice creams and gelatos.

What is this magical formula to achieve the perfect sorbet or ice cream to you might wonder? But all I can say is... Keep on wondering! Because it's a secret. I have sworn secrecy to the master who has passed on this knowledge onto me. However, I will give you a hint, what this formula will help you achieve in your sorbet or ice cream making, is your prefect balance of fats, sugars, flavours, milk and other ingredients you might have in your mix. Why is this important? Well, for one example, too much fat in your ice cream will inhibit flavour notes to be detected by your tongue, since it will be covered by icy cold fat.

So throughout the week we've spent our time carefully weighing out each of the components for our various ice cream cakes and sorbet cakes. Understanding how much solids, liquids, and fats are in each ingredient then inputting the numbers into our formulas to create proper mixture to freeze. We also got to use and understand the difference between natural stabilizers and emulsifiers, which are crucial in making these frozen desserts.

We've made an Ice Cream Bombe that was comprised of extra fine sable dough, vanilla parfait and raspberry coulis. All in cased with a rich chocolate ice cream with the creamiest consistency. Then it was 'Vacherin Glace', which in simple terms, is a cake with apricot and raspberry sorbet layered in the middle. And lastly, we made chocolate-caramel ice cream cake with caramelized hazelnuts and wood grain chocolate rim.

Hazelnut Dacquoise, chocolate ice cream with caramelized hazelnuts in the center, caramel ice cream on the outside and dark chocolate spray

Next is the Sorbet cake, also known as 'Vacherin Glace'. In our filling, we have a raspberry sorbet ontop and apricot sorbet on the bottom.

As decor. We made italian meringue and whipped cream. So much sugar and so fattening!! .. But so good? Check out the color of the apricot sorbet. It's so gorgeous! So vibrant!

The very last cake. One of my most favorite ice cream cake of all. Chocolate ice cream on the outside, vanilla parfait on the inside and raspberry coulis to balance all the sweetness. A vanilla parfait is much like a frozen mousse, but perhaps a bit denser. This particular cake was a 3 day work progress. First we had to make the raspberry coulis and allow it to set it in a half stainless steel sphere mold in the fridge, then we made the vanilla parfait. When the raspberry coulis was solidified, in goes the vailla parfait then it was off to the freezer. Then we made the chocolate ice cream mixture, cooled it down quickly and allowed it to set over night in the fridge for better flavor development. The last day, we spun the ice cream in a $30,000 ice cream maker and assembled the cake. It was quite the effort and very time consuming, however, all the hard work and patience had finally paid off when we got to dig into our glorious frozen desserts. It made everything we had done through out the week while worth it.