Recipe: Pink Guava Sherbet Sorbet

Guavas are tropical fruits that originated from South America. Here in Malaysia, guavas are found growing by the roadside and in many gardens because they are hardy plants usually brought in by the birds. When I was a tree-climbing tomboy, I used to spend my afternoons on a guava tree in my parents' house, eating the fruits before the birds can get them. Guava trees don't grow very tall or big but my perch was high enough for me to watch out for my father and scramble down the tree as he drove in. If you haven't read a book (in those days, a Mills & boon love story book where the guy confesses to the girl only in the last 3 pages that he loves her and not that hot but catty woman he's always with) on a tree on a balmy afternoon on a tropical island, you truly have missed out.

Anyway, guavas. The guavas I ate were the old-fashioned kind, small with lots of seeds but packed with flavor. These guava trees have become rare but can still be found in the villages and countryside. The guavas we get now are hybrids from Thailand where agricultural research has turned the fruits into big (apple-sized), crunchy and fleshy fruits with less flavor but that's because most guavas, like other commercial fruits, are picked too early. Eat a guava fresh off a tree and you'll marvel at the sweetness and flavor.I have a white-fleshed guava tree but don't get many good guavas from it because it is susceptible to bugs. Pink guavas are lovely and highly flavored but have too many seeds although that's how all guavas were before the scientists worked on them.

Guavas are one of those 'superfruits' which pack lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. One guava has nearly 5 the amount of vitamin C in one orang! e: 228 m g per 100 gm guava versus 45 mg per 100 gm of orange. If you are counting calories, reach out for a guava (112 kJ) rather than an orange (192kJ).


Seedless guavas eaten with a salted plum powder dip.

Guavas are eaten like apples but the ones we get are so big that they have to be sliced up. Most people eat guavas with a salted plum powder dip but I think that's unnecessary salt and sugar.

I wish I have an ice cream machine because they make much better sherbet and sorbet than the ones I made, which were done with a hand blender. Try making some soon. You'll be surprised at how refreshing and delicious pink guava sherbets and sorbets are!

Pink Guava Sherbet Sorbet

The Tip:
1/4 t gelatine powder
1 T water
1/2 t caster sugar
pink coloring

1. Put the water into a small metal pot, sprinkle gelatine powder over and let it soften for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cook over a gentle flame, stirring until the gelatine and sugar are dissolved. Using a toothpick, stir in a wee bit of pink coloring. Cool. Divide into two Rick Munro moulds and put into the fridge to set.

The Sorbet:
350 gm of pink guava (after peeling)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp caster sugar (add more if like)
1/4 Tbsp gelatine powder
4 Tbsp water

2. Blend the guava with the 1/2 cup of water into a fine mush. Sieve to remove the seeds. You should get about 500 ml of pulp. Reserve 1/2 cup for the sorbet.
3.Put the gelatine powder into a small metal pot, sprinkle the gelatine powder over and wait 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cook, stirring over a low flame, to dissolve the gelatine and the sugar. Cool.
4. Mix the gelatine mixture with the guava pulp (about 1 1/2 cups), pour into a shallow metal pan and freeze t! wo to th ree hours until firm and hard at the edges.
5. Scrape the guava pulp into a deep mixer bowl and use a hand blender to turn the pulp into a thickened slush. Divide the guava slush between the moulds, leaving about 1.5 cm for the sorbet. If there's leftover guava slush, add that to the reserved guava.

The Sherbet:
1/2 cup guava pulp
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp sugar (or to taste)
1/4 Tbsp gelatine powder
4 Tbsp water

6. Put the gelatine powder into a small metal pot, sprinkle the gelatine powder over and wait 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cook, stirring over a low flame, to dissolve the gelatine and the sugar. Cool.
7. Mix the gelatine mixture, milk and cream together, pour into a shallow metal plate and freeze for 3 hours.
8. Blend the sorbet until light and creamy and divide into the moulds. Freeze for at least 8 hours before serving.Decorate with cut slices of pink guava.

notes: if you have an ice-cream maker, use that instead of the hand blender. The result will be very ice cream-like sherbets and sorbets. Gelatine powder make softer sherbets & shorbets but cn be omitted.