The Samurai

Yuzu sorbet

By: Nick Palumbo
From: Gelato Messina
Makes: 1 kg
Photographer: Billy Law

Yuzu is a fruit native to Japan, and it has to be one of my favourite citrus fruits because it combines the flavours of lemon, lime, mandarin and cumquat — it’s truly fascinating the different flavours you can pick up in the one fruit.

My nephew, Alessandro, came up with the concept of The Samurai when we were brainstorming ideas for our gelato cake shop, known as the ‘creative department’, which is next door to our original store in Darlinghurst. There, we shape this sorbet into a silicone magnum mould and encase it in silver chocolate to make it look like a blade. It looks really cool.

You can buy frozen yuzu juice from specialty Japanese stores, or alternatively use a mixture of fresh lemon, lime and mandarin juice to achieve something similar in flavour to yuzu.

Domestic

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
475g	water
175g	sugar
55g	dextrose
50g	maltodextrin
5g	stabiliser
240g	yuzu juice, (24%), assume 5% sugar
	Salted caramel

Method

Mixing

Put the water in a double boiler over a medium heat.
Put all the powders in a bowl and mix until combined. When the water hits 40°C, whisk in the powders and bring the mixture up to 65°C, whisking constantly.
Transfer the mixture to a stainless steel bowl and place in an ice bath; chill to 40°C. Cover tightly with foil and put in the freezer, stirring every 10 minutes or so until the mixture drops to 4°C, then add the yuzu juice and blend well using a stick blender. Place in the fridge and let it age for 4 hours.
Churning

Turn on your gelato maker so it begins the freezing process.
Using a stick blender, blend the mixture for 1 minute, then pour into the gelato maker.
Once the mixture reaches –4°C, scoop out the sorbet and transfer to a pre-cooled stainless steel bowl; as you do this, fold the salted caramel into the sorbet. Cover tightly and immediately place in the freezer.
Serving

The sorbet should be served within 2 to 3 hours after placing it in the freezer, or when it reaches –12°C. If it goes below –15°C or is left in the freezer overnight, the texture will be compromised.

Professional

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
	as above

Method

Mixing

Put the water in a pasteuriser and select high pasteurisation.
Put all the powders in a bowl and dry mix. When the water hits 40°C, whisk in the powders; the pasteuriser will take the entire mix to 85°C, then will switch to cooling phase.
Once the pasteuriser runs its cycle and gets down to 4°C, add the yuzu juice and let the mixture age for 4 hours at 4°C.
Churning

Measure an appropriate amount of mixture into a measuring jug and put in a batch freezer. Within 10 to 12 minutes, your mix should be ready for extraction. As the sorbet comes out of the churner, fold the salted caramel into the sorbet.
For long-term storage, up to 2 weeks: Put the sorbet in a blast freezer for 30 minutes, then store at –18°C. For short-term storage, 2 to 3 days: Put the sorbet in a storage freezer at –18°C.
Serving

The serving temperature of the sorbet should be around –11°C to –13°C.