Apple skins & marsala sorbet

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

When Carpigiani, the Italian company and makers of the finest gelato machines in the world (that’s why I agreed to be their chef for Australia), brought together all the gelato chefs from around the world to HQ in Bologna for a meeting of ideas, I met a Spanish gelato chef by the name of Fernando Saenz Durante.

Fernando can’t speak English or Italian and I can’t speak Spanish but because I can speak Italian and they are similar languages, we could get the gist of what each other was saying. He told me of a sorbet he made using red apple skins (none of the fruit itself) and marsala. He put the apple skins in water and then left them in the fridge for about ten days. The water took on the colour of the skin and flavour of the apple, and he then used that water to make his sorbet (this technique is known as maceration). I was blown away and asked if I could include his recipe in this book.

If you are ever in La Rioja in Spain and you’d like to check out his place, it’s called Heladeria Della Sera at Portals, 28, Logrono. I highly recommend it.

Domestic

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
10	red apples
600g	water
210g	sugar
55g	maltodextrin
5g	stabiliser
130g	marsala

Method

Macerating

Wash the apples in a food-grade sanitiser (or wipe the fruit with a lightly soaped sponge and rinse well). Peel the apples, taking as little of the flesh as possible — you just want the skins. Place the skins in an airtight jar and fill with the 600 g of water. The water should cover all the skins. Cover and refrigerate for 10 days. After this time, the water should be ruby red in colour and should have taken on the flavour of apple. Strain and use this water in your recipe.
Mixing

Put the apple-infused 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 marsala and blend well. 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, 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

Macerating

Wash the apples in a food-grade sanitiser (or wipe the fruit with a lightly soaped sponge and rinse well). Peel the apples, taking as little of the flesh as possible — you just want the skins. Place the skins in an airtight jar and fill with the 600 g of water. The water should cover all the skins. Cover and refrigerate for 10 days. After this time, the water should be ruby red in colour and should have taken on the flavour of apple. Strain and use this water in your recipe.
Mixing

Put the apple-infused 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 marsala and let the mixture age for 4 hours at 4°C.
Churning

Measure an appropriate amount of mixture into a measuring jug and place in a batch freezer. Within 10 to 12 minutes, your mix should be ready for extraction.
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.