This blackberry and apple sorbet, made in the Ninja Creami, is a classic pairing that tastes like the last days of an English summer.
Rich blackberries are blended with smooth apple sauce to make a delicious jewel-coloured sorbet that is impossible to resist a second helping of. Ideal served after a rich meal, or as a lighter alternative to traditional blackberry and apple pie.
Ninja Creami Blackberry & Apple Sorbet
Blackberry and apple is one of those classic combinations. Fruit that ripens together nearly always work well together, the rich, earthy blackberries being balanced by the sharp sweet Bramley apples.
There is a reason that blackberry and apple jam, or blackberry and apple jelly are so popular.
More Ninja Creami Sorbet Recipes
- Apple sorbet – light and refreshing
- Classic tropical passion fruit sorbet is intense, sweet and delightfully tart
- Blackcurrant sorbet – rich and intense
- All my Ninja Creami recipes – I love this machine!
The Ninja Creami makes fruit ice creams, froyo and sorbets, including this blackberry and apple sorbert so easy to make at home. Fill the tub, blend, freeze and then spin! All with good quality ingredients, and no processed additives. The hardest part is waiting for the tub to freeze.
This sorbet is so easy to make, fresh (or frozen blackberries), apple sauce for convenience, which means no peeling, chopping and stewing. Simply fill the tub, blend, freeze, spin and enjoy!
Why make this recipe
- It uses simple everyday “clean” ingredients
- It’s easy to make – prepare the sorbet in advance in the Creami pot and freeze. When you want some delicious sorbet, process it in the Ninja Creami machine, and it’s ready to eat in a couple of minutes
- Delicious – this is a soft, sorbet oozing with blackberry and apple and the perfect amount of sweetness
- Far cheaper than premium store bought sorbet – and no nasties – this is UPF free!
- Adaptable – once you have learnt and memorised this easy recipe, you can make any flavour of fruit sorbet
Ninja Creami Blackberry & Apple Sorbet Ingredients
- Blackberries – Unless you can forage them in season blackberries are expensive when bought fresh. So I tend to sift them out of the bag of mixed frozen fruit easily available from the supermarket. This really only takes a few minutes, and as a supply of affordable blackberries it’s by far the easiest, so makes it worth it.
- Apple Sauce – For the easy “cheat’s” version of the recipe use a jar of ready made apple sauce, or can of apple pie filling. If you want to avoid any overly processed ingredients you can use a homemade apple sauce or pure apple puree.
- Sugar – I usually use golden caster sugar which adds another layer of flavour. I find the sorbet needs a little extra sweetness for both flavour and texture.
- Golden Syrup – Adds a little sweetness, flavour and improves the texture of the final sorbet making it silky smooth. You can also use honey or maple syrup, or leave it out altogether.
- Lemon – pairs so well with the fruit, offsetting the sweetness and acting as a flavour enhancer. You can leave it out, but this takes the sorbet to the next level.
How to make Ninja Creami blackberry & apple sorbet – step by step
Follow my step by step instructions, with hints and tips for how to make this blackberry and apple sorbet perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Add the blackberries to the tub, along with the apple sauce, sugar, golden syrup, and lemon. If the blackberries are frozen, allow them time to defrost.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
Roll the lemon on the work top under the heel of your hand for a few seconds so you can extract more juice. Zest with a fine Microplane style of grater, before you cut in half to juice.
Step Two – Top up to the max fill line with water.
Stir, or gently whizz with a stick blender, making sure that the sugar and syrup are all mixed in – they tend to sink to the bottom of the tub.
Alternatively, put the tub into the Creami and spin on the milkshake setting. I find that when doing this, the mixture can spill out of the tub so I add about two thirds of the water, and stir the rest in with a spoon after processing to prevent mess.
Freeze until solid; this can take overnight or up to 24 hours depending on your freezer.
Step Three– If the mixture has developed a hump or bump in the middle scrape with a spoon so it is flat.
Freezing with the lid off can help to stop these humps forming. Different recipes and freezers will cause different sized humps to form. If your mixture always forms a large hump give it a stir after an hour or so in the freezer.
Do not spin a mixture that has a large hump without flattening it first. You may damage your machine.
Step Four – Put the container in the machine and spin – with the regular Creami (the NC300 which makes pint pots) the sorbet cycle gets the best results for this recipe.
Scrape the sides down and respin as needed to get the best texture. I find a sorbet usually needs one respin.
What do I do if my blackberry and apple sorbet is grainy / sandy?
If your sorbet looks sandy or grainy after processing put it back in the machine and run the respin cycle agai.
Serving suggestion
Enjoy straight away as is, or top with some fresh blackberries and a squeeze of golden or maple syrup. Or sprinkle on a little granola for some crunch.
Storage
Your blackberry and apple sorbet will keep for a couple of weeks in the freezer in the Creami tub. To enjoy a half empty pot either just let it thaw slightly or process again with the sorbet function. Before returning a half eaten pot to the freezer smooth out the top of the sorbet so it is flat and easy to re-process.
Never use the respin cycle on a tub of leftovers from the freezer until after it has been re-processed using the standard sorbet cycle.
Alternatively you can mix some vegetable food-grade glycerine with to soften the mix and make it scoop-able straight from the freezer. The perfect amount will vary with recipe, but start with 2 teaspoons.
Hints and Tips
- The recipe is for the regular “original” Ninja Creami (NC300). If you have the deluxe model multiply the recipe by 1.5x to fill the tub.
- Make sure the mixture is completely frozen before processing. You might have to turn up your freezer in hotter weather. On my basic freezer, turning the dial up to a higher number makes the freezer work more, giving a colder temperature. If you freezer is more sophisticated then you might have direct control of temperature.
- If you add some additions using the mix-in function, then any re-spinning of the sorbet after refreezing will blend them completely. If you don’t want to do this, simply allow the mixture to defrost a little before enjoying. Or, you can add about 2 teaspoons vegetable, food grade, glycerine into the mixture, then running the respin cycle again before returning to the freezer. Experiment to perfect quantities for scoopable sorbet from the freezer.
- Wash the lid and blade as soon as the machine has finished.
- The leftover jar of apple sauce can be frozen. Loosen the the lid and pop it into the freezer.
FAQs
I find that this sorbet, unlike many, is easily scoop-able straight from the freezer as long as it has been spun once in the Ninja Creami. However, if it has frozen too solid to scoop then either just let it thaw slightly, or process again with the sorbet function. You can’t use the re-spin function on a solid mixture. You can also add 2 tsp of vegetable glycerine to make the sorbet scoopable from the freezer.
Well, it is admittedly an expensive device but we are loving homemade fruit based ice creams, sorbets and froyos all with no added nasties.
The containers, lids, and paddle are top-rack dishwasher safe. Ensure the paddle, tub, outer bowl, and lids are all separated before placing them in the dishwasher. Sometimes water can get trapped in the lid. Make sure the lid is positioned with the sliding knob facing down so that water can drain out.
The advantage of the Deluxe NC501 model is that it has more cycles and you can process only half a tub at a time. We have the NC300 model which is perfect for a two person household with a smaller freezer.
The other advantage of the deluxe machine is the larger pots, which might help you if you have many people clamouring for ice cream.
Ninja Creami Blackberry & Apple Sorbet
Equipment
- Stick / Immersion Blender (UK) Get the highest wattage you can, and ideally one with a steel shaft
Ingredients
- 150 g (9 oz) blackberries (1)
- 150 g (& 2 tbsp) apple sauce (2)
- 25 g (2 tbsp) sugar (3)
- 2 tbsp golden syrup (4)
- ½ lemon (juice & zest) (5)
Instructions
- Fill the pot – add all the ingredients to the Creami pot, allow the blackberries to defrost if they were frozen.150 g blackberries, 25 g sugar, 2 tbsp golden syrup, ½ lemon (juice & zest), 150 g apple sauce
- Top up with water – up to the max fill line. Whizz with a stick blender to puree the fruit. Make sure the syrup is stirred through the mixture and not all at the bottom of the pot. Alternatively, put the tub into the Creami and spin on the milkshake setting. I find the mixture can spill out of the tub, so only add about two thirds of the water, and stir the rest in with a spoon after processing to prevent mess.Freeze until solid; this can take overnight or up to 24 hours depending on your freezer.
- Check for humps – If the mixture has developed a hump or bump in the middle scrape with a spoon so it is flat.* Freezing with the lid off can help to stop humps forming. Different recipes and freezers can different sized humps to form. If your mixture always forms a large hump as it freezes give it a stir after the first hour in the freezer. Do not spin a mixture that has a large hump, without flattening it first. You may damage your machine.
- Process – Put the container in the machine and spin on the sorbet cycle – with the regular Creami (the NC300) which makes pint pots) the sorbet cycle gets the best results for this recipe.Scrape the sides down and respin if needed.
Notes
- Blackberries – Unless you can forage them in season blackberries are expensive when bought fresh. So I tend to sift them out of the bag of mixed frozen fruit easily available from the supermarket. This really only takes a few minutes, and as a supply of affordable blackberries it’s by far the easiest, so makes it worth it.
- Apple Sauce – For the easy “cheat’s” version of the recipe use a jar of ready made apple sauce, or can of apple pie filling. If you want to avoid any overly processed ingredients you can use a homemade apple sauce or pure apple puree.
- Sugar – I usually use golden caster
- Golden Syrup – adds sweetness, flavour and improves the texture of the final sorbet. You can also use honey or maple syrup.
- Lemon – To extract the most juice roll the whole lemon on the work top under the heel of your hand exerting a gentle pressure.
- This recipe is for the regular NC300 Ninja Creami, with (American) pint pots. For the Deluxe model use 1.5X the ingredients.
- Make sure the mixture is completely frozen before processing.
- You can freeze the half jar of apple sauce – loosen the lid and put it in the freezer.
- To enjoy a half empty pot: either just let it thaw slightly or process again with the sorbet function. You must not the re-spin function on a solid mixture. Or, you can add about 2 teaspoons vegetable, food grade glycerine into the mixture and respin before returning to the freezer so it is scoopable from the freezer. Experiment to perfect quantities.
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