Well, it’s official: not all ice cream is created equal. For anyone who’s ever wondered just what exactly makes certain ice cream brands taste so much better than others, even when they’re making the same flavor, it turns out those ratios are quite complex. And the secret was discovered somewhere along the hunt to find out the difference between sherbert and sorbet…
Which, as a disclaimer, are not the same thing.
Many mothers have worried in horror that their kid’s favorite ice cream brand was just one giant tub of unholy amounts of sugar. Many kids have indignantly gone to battle on the playground over which ice cream really packed the most chocolate chips. And many lactose intolerant ice-cream lovers, or mothers of, have mistakenly believed that anything with the words “sorbet” or “sherbet” slapped on it was safe.
But it turns out that one of the biggest culprits of all of these differences is, in fact, cream (or, generally, dairy).
Now, with ice cream, anything over 10% dairy qualifies – and that’s where you get your major quality differences in ice cream flavor. Let’s call it ‘preference’ instead of ‘quality,’ so as not to upset anyone…
Underneath that 10% is where things get tricky. And both sorbet and sherbert are included in this category.
On top of that, the labels are unregulated – meaning that they are often used interchangeable, and the only reliable source of information is the ingredient list.
While ‘textbook’ sorbet can contain up to 1% dairy, this is generally not enough to be considered substantial levels of lactose, and is even officially referred to as water ice. Sherbert, on the other hand, is intended to be a frozen fruit and dairy product, containing anything from 1% – 2% milkfat. And although that 2% – 10% range remains a bit of a mystery, sherbert does occasionally end up in there.
So, now that that’s sorted – you’re probably wondering the difference between ice cream and gelato. But that’ll have to wait for the next post.