Ice Cream vs Sorbet
Ice Cream is one dessert that needs no introduction. Even small kids know what it is. Ice Cream is a frozen dessert made of cream and milk and is available in many flavors in all parts of the world. There is another dessert called Sorbet that confuses some people. There are grocery stores selling both these deserts, and despite being sweet and frozen, there are many differences between Ice Cream and Sorbet that will be highlighted in this article.
Ice Cream
The name Ice Cream is a giveaway as it is a frozen dessert made with cream though a major ingredient happens to be milk. Sugar and flavors are added to make the dessert tasty. One unique feature of an ice cream is that it contains more than 50% of air by volume. The air gets inside during the manufacturing process that involves whipping. Whipping also makes the texture of the final product fluffy and smooth.
There are different categories of ice creams based upon their ingredients, mainly butterfat. It is premium category of ice creams that contain butterfat in a high range of 11-15% while regular ice creams contain butterfat around 10% or a bit more. Economy range of ice creams has butterfat just 10% and is the cheapest of the three categories.
There are more varieties of ice creams available in the market as per fat content like reduced fat ice creams and light ice creams. In France, a frozen dessert with custard as the base is more popular and is called glace. In some countries, gelato, another frozen dessert that contains less air by volume is more popular than standard ice cream.
Sorbet
Sorbet is a special frozen dessert that is a delight for all those who have lactose intolerance as it contains no dairy product. The main ingredient in sorbet is of course puree of fruit in addition to flavors, herbs and spices as per liking or taste. Whipping of the mixture of ice and puree makes the sorbet fluffy and light.
There is another variety called sherbet that is closer to ice creams as it contains milk, in addition to fruit puree. However, there is no dairy product in sorbet. The texture of sorbets is granular because of the presence of ice even though it is whipped. However, with the addition of milk, much of the granular texture is gone and the dessert becomes smooth like an ice cream.
Chinese are credited with inventing the frozen dessert called sorbet though it was extensively used by Mughal emperors, to get rid of summers in Delhi. They ordered snow from Hindukush Mountains that was brought to them by a relay team of horsemen and poured into glasses with syrups poured over them, to make sorbets.
What is the difference between Ice Cream and Sorbet?
• Ice cream is a frozen dessert that is made mainly through cream and adding milk into it
• Sorbet is a frozen dessert that is devoid of any dairy product
• Ice cream is ice mixed with cream while sorbet is ice mixed with fruit puree
• Both desserts are sweetened and flavored according to taste, but sorbet makes use of herbs and spices
• Ice cream is more fluffy and smooth than sorbet which is granulated because of the presence of ice despite having been whipped
• Ice cream contains a lot of air by volume which is much less in sorbet