Happiness is...Mango Lychee Sorbet

One of my favourite desserts is the sorbet trio at Blue Ginger restaurant in Balmain (Sydney). The trio usually includes a lychee sorbet, and it is sublime – sweet yet subtle with the unmistakable fragrance of luscious lychees. I even bought the Blue Ginger cookbook to see if I could make it using their recipe, but unfortunately, it requires an ice cream maker which I don’t have.

So what to do? Well, in my case, I just pined over the lychee-sorbet-that-was-not-to be for a couple of years. Until last week. And all because I had 2 eggwhites left over.

After making some spaghetti carbonara that needed 2 egg yolks, the remaining eggwhites languished in the fridge for a couple of days while I mulled over what use them for. I’m NOT a macaron maker, so macs were out of the question. Eggwhite omelette? Too boring. Then I did what I should have done first off – type ‘2 eggwhites’ into the search at taste.com.au. It came up with this fantastic Lychee and Mango Sorbet that is every bit as good as the one at Blue Ginger (and with the bonus of mango). I pine no longer.

Mango and Lychee Sorbet

Serves 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup caster sugar 

565g can lychees in syrup, drained

425g can mango slices in light syrup, drained 

2 eggwhites, lightly whisked

Method

1. Combine sugar and 1 1/4 cups water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, without stirring, for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and cool completely.

2. Place lychees and mango in a processor or blender. Process until smooth. Press through a sieve into a bowl. Discard pulp. Add sugar mixture to fruit mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Cover and freeze for 1 to 2 hours or until almost firm.

3. Transfer mixture to a food processor. Add eggwhites. Process until smooth but not melted. Pour mixture into a 6cm-deep, 11.5cm x 21.5cm (base) loaf pan. Cover and freeze for 3 hours or until firm. Serve.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients: Canned mango and lychees (great if they're not in season); lightly whisked egg whites (warning: this dessert contains uncooked eggs); process the lychee and mango then push through a sieve; frozen delicious sorbet is the result

This sorbet is wonderfully smooth as long as you combine the eggwhites well with the mango/lychee slush.

These raspberries are so brightly coloured. All the better to contrast with the mango/lychee!

A frosty sweet treat that's worthy of a restaurant.