This cardamom plum sorbet makes a refreshing summer treat with the perfect balance of sweet and tart and a beautiful note of cardamom.
With the weather heating up lately, I decided to use the plums from my friend's garden to make a cardamom plum sorbet. Peaches get all the glory while plums rarely get incorporated into frozen desserts. Cardamom plays well with stone fruits and this combination of flavor makes for a refreshing summer treat.
Ingredient Notes
- Plums: use any plums you like but make sure they are ripe but slightly firm so they soften and become jammy during roasting. Some of my favorite are Elephant Heart, Santa Rosa, Black Beauty and pluots. Feel free to swap the plums for any other stone fruits.
- Cardamom: is a popular spice used in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Swedish cooking. There are two types of cardamom, black and green. I used green cardamom powder for this recipe. If you’re not familiar with cardamom, the flavor can be overpowering. A little bit of cardamom goes a long way.
How to Make Sorbet
Making the cardamom plum sorbet is a two step process. Roast them in the oven at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Roasting plums in the oven brings out the flavors and sweetness of these wonderful fruits as their natural sugars break down from the heat. The roasted plums get infused with cardamom and vanilla flavor.
The roasted plums get blended with a cardamom syrup for a double dose of cardamom. Remove all the solids with a strainer. Use a high speed blender to get a thin and smooth consistency. Strain again to remove any residual bits. Refrigerate the mixture for 2 hours but even better overnight to let the flavor develop.
How Long to Freeze Sorbet
Sorbet takes longer to freeze than ice cream. The sorbet needs at least 6 hours in the freezer to set and for the flavor to full develop.
The cardamom plum sorbet had the perfect balance of sweet and tart with a beautiful note of cardamom. Its cardamom note is quite front and center in this sorbet so dial back the amount of cardamom if you're not too keen. I love serving the sorbet with fresh plum slices. It was visually stunning and equally refreshing.
For more frozen treat inspiration, try these recipes: hibiscus peach sorbet, cardamom apricot sorbet, balsamic cherry goat cheese ice cream, roasted fig goat cheese crumble ice cream, strawberry elderflower semifreddo.
Cardamom Plum Sorbet
Ingredients
Roasted Plums
- 1 pound plums, halved
- ¼ cup sugar
- 5 cardamom pods, crushed with the back of a knife
- 1 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Cardamom Plum Sorbet
- 1 quantity of roasted plums
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 cardamom pods, crushed with the back of a knife
- fresh plums for serving, pitted and sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a roasting dish, place plums cut side up, sugar, lemon juice, cardamom pods, and vanilla bean in a single layer. Bake for 30 minutes, until tender. Remove from oven and let it cool.
- Remove pits from plum and discard all solids. Reserve juices.
- Place the water, sugar, and cardamom pods in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from heat and let it steep for 10 minutes to let the cardamom flavor infuse. Strain the cardamom simple syrup.
- In a high speed blender, added roasted plums and juices and cardamom syrup. Puree until smooth. Strain the mixture with a fine mesh sieve.
- Chill the mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn until frozen according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and let it set in the freezer for 6 hours or overnight.
- When ready to serve, scoop the sorbet into serving. Serve with fresh plums.
Chef Ryan
Delicious! This is excellent plum sorbet! It does harden after a while in the freezer, but leaving it out for a few minutes restores its softness.
Vy Tran
Thank you chef! So happy to hear you liked it!