Custard Apple Sorbet

A most refreshing sorbet made from the tender and aromatic flesh of this delicious and delicate fruit.

This Custard Apple Sorbet with cookie crumb honey topping is very simple to make.

It has a fresh delicate flavour with a creamy texture, making it perfect for the warmer weather. Serve it at BBQs, garden parties or without the cookie crumb and honey as a palate cleanser between courses.

A good sorbet relies on the quality of the fruit, so choose custard apples which are in season and very ripe, for both flavour and sweetness.

Once frozen the sorbet will not be as sweet, so adjust the sweetness with the cookie crumb and honey according to your taste.

What are custard apples?

Originally from South America and the Caribbean, these custard apples (related to the delicious chermoya), are found in tropical countries.

Custard apples vary in size and are approximately the size of a tennis or cricket ball.

They are a roundish, heat-shaped, green and delicate fruit with a bumpy inedible skin. Inside is a white creamy and aromatic flesh surrounding large shiny black seeds around a soft core.

What do they taste like?

Custard apples have a delicate flavour with a creamy texture, a bit like custard, and are very sweet when ripe.

They pair very well with bananas, pineapple, berries, coconut, honey, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger and vanilla.

Selecting

Custard apples are plucked while still hard and soften as they ripen.

As they ripen, the bumps on their skin begin to move apart. Ripe custard apples are quite fragile, they are soft to touch and can be pulled apart easily.

Storing the fruit

Ripe custard apples should be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days, but if they are very soft, must be consumed the same day.

Unripe custard apples will ripen at room temperature over a few days. To speed up the ripening process, store next to bananas or apples.

Preparing

The skin of custard apples is not edible, nor are the seeds which are slightly poisonous.

The easiest way to remove the flesh of a custard apple is to cut it in half, or pull apart by hand and spoon out the flesh, discarding the black seeds.

What you will need

• Ripe custard apples
• Sugar
• Lemon juice
• Ginger cookies
• Honey

How to make it

1. Remove the flesh from the custard apples, discarding the seeds.
2. Blend with lemon juice and sugar till smooth.
3. Spoon out into a flat dish and freeze for around 90 minutes, stirring at 20 minute intervals, till it reaches an icy/sorbet consistency.
4. To serve, drizzle with honey and crushed ginger cookies.

Variations

Custard apples and ginger are a wonderful combination, but you could substitute ginger cookies for coconut or vanilla/milk cookies.

Storing

Keep in an airtight container and freeze for up to a week for best flavour.

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