Ice-cold fruit sorbets make a refreshing treat on hot summer days, and exotic fruits top my list this season. Papaya is one of my favourites: fragrant, sweet when ripe, and packed with nutrients. This papaya and lemon sorbet is wonderfully flavorful, but it’s more than just a tasty frozen dessert.
If you’ve never tried papaya, give it a chance. If you found it bland before, the most likely reason was that the fruit wasn’t perfectly ripe. Like pears, papayas can be bland when under-ripe, beautifully sweet at peak ripeness, and unpleasant if overripe. Learn to spot the ideal fruit: a ripe papaya will yield slightly when gently squeezed and should be free of large bruises.
Papayas offer more than great taste. They provide valuable nutrients and surprising uses: the entire fruit is edible, and the seeds can be dried and used like a peppery seasoning. Papaya also contains papain, a digestive enzyme that helps break down proteins and supports digestion, making this sorbet an ideal after-meal dessert.
Papaya and Lemon Sorbet
The Greedy Vegan
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.25 kg papaya cleaned
- 2 lemons juiced
- 60 ml agave
- 60 ml water
Instructions
-
Cut the papayas in half, scoop out the seeds, and remove the flesh from the peel.
-
Combine papaya flesh, lemon juice, agave and water in a blender and process until completely smooth.
-
If you have an ice cream machine, pour the mixture into it and churn according to the manufacturer’s directions until it reaches sorbet consistency.
-
Transfer the sorbet to a freezer-safe container and freeze 1–3 hours for a firmer, scoopable texture before serving.
Notes
No ice cream machine? Pour the blended mixture into a shallow freezer-safe dish and place in the freezer. Stir vigorously every 30 minutes as it freezes to break up ice crystals until it’s firm and scoopable.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!