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I made cherry sorbet according to a recipe, only to find that the cherries I'd bought have a strongly bitter taste to them (not unusual for cherries in my experience). Now the sorbet tastes strongly of cherries I'd prefer not to eat :/ what can I do to improve the flavor, either as a last-minute addition during churning (too late for this batch but useful for the future) or a topping? I'm looking to make it sweeter.

Divi
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Yamikuronue
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    If you are looking to make it sweeter, adding more sugar or syrup would be the obvious answer. Also, on a side note, you can always let your sorbet thaw, make the necessary corrections and just churn it again. – Henrik Söderlund Sep 14 '12 at 17:51
  • @HenrikSöderlund That is indeed useful! I was worried about adding granulated sugar while churning, as it might not dissolve well. Thawing, adding sugar, then re-freezing sounds like a good answer, if you want to make it one – Yamikuronue Sep 14 '12 at 17:55
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    Recently, I've started hand-blending the sorbet. The result is amazing. So, just add more sugar/syrup to taste and blend. – BaffledCook Sep 14 '12 at 18:43

2 Answers2

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If you're worried about the sugar not dissolving, you can add golden syrup to the thawed sorbet. It will also make your sorbet softer. I've only tried making sorbet a couple of times but when I used golden syrup, its consistency was softer than when I used sugar.

Divi
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    In the US, other sugar syrups (your own simple syrup, honey, corn syrup, etc) are a lot easier to come by. And yes, golden syrup doesn't really crystallize (same goes for corn syrup) so it'll be softer. – Cascabel Sep 15 '12 at 04:12
  • +1 Golden syrup is worth getting for this, it is a powerful sweetener and harmonious flavour to match, unlike simple syrup, corn syrup etc. Maple syrup is good too, but a little too distinctive and may hide the cherry flavours – TFD Sep 15 '12 at 09:44
  • We thought maybe some honey or a simple syrup were worth trying :) – Yamikuronue Sep 15 '12 at 19:20
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    Personally, I don't like the flavour of honey and it has a more distinct flavour than golden syrup. But, if you like that flavour, go for it. One more thing, honey does crystallize, so I don't know how it affects the sorbet consistency – Divi Sep 16 '12 at 00:29
  • Tried adding honey tonight... and it didn't freeze up. :| I'm going to let it chill overnight again, but it might be a lost cause. – Yamikuronue Sep 17 '12 at 02:09
  • Oh dear god! Now it's still nasty, and grainy, and with a chaser of sickly-sweet. I think... I think I'm going to chalk this up as a failure and stick to sweeter fruits to start with. – Yamikuronue Sep 22 '12 at 00:30
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Salt counters bitterness. It may seem a little odd to add salt to a sorbet, but I can assure you that it is not unusual to use salt in desserts. Adding salt will also enhance the perceived sweetness of the sorbet.

You won't need much salt. Maybe a small pinch per serving would be enough. Just be sure to note the total amount of salt you add to a batch so that you can adjust up or down in subsequent batches.

Chris Steinbach
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