Sherbet - benefits and harm to the body

Oriental delicacies are known all over the world due to their exquisite, amazing taste, as well as the presence of many vitamins and minerals in their composition, which is not very typical for sweets. The benefits of oriental desserts are due to the fact that they are usually based on natural products that are very healthy for the body: various nuts and seeds.

There is such a famous sweet as sherbet. What is this product, what benefits does it bring to our health and can it cause harm?

Sherbet - basic information about the product

So, let's take a closer look at what this dessert is. Its homeland is one of the countries of the East - Turkey, Persia, and maybe even ancient China. History cannot yet provide more accurate data.

Classic sherbet is a sweet fudge made from condensed milk and containing whole or chopped nuts. The taste of the product is rich, with a slight nutty flavor, sugary and very sweet. It is this delicacy that is most widely known to domestic consumers.

However, it is worth saying that sherbet can be served in other ways. So, the French reworked the recipe for oriental sweets to their own taste and invented a new dish, known throughout the world as sorbet. This is a delicacy that is essentially ice cream made from fruit or berry juice. We can say that the French version is the same sherbet, but with a slightly different consistency and with a slightly modified composition.

It is impossible not to mention the oldest type of delicacy, sherbet, which is a sweet cocktail of various nuts, fruits and the addition of aromatic spices. It was in this form that the drink was served in eastern countries - and it was this that became the prototype of French nut-fruit ice cream and the familiar dessert in the form of fudge.

The legend of the origin of the delicacy

There is a rather interesting legend that connects sherbet with the legendary Venetian traveler Marco Polo. According to legend, in the thirteenth century, two merchants from Venice arrived in the city of Khanbalik, in the territory of modern Beijing, who asked to be introduced to the son of Genghis Khan, the Great Khan Kublai Khan. These were the brothers Maffeo and Nicolo Polo. The latter took his son, fifteen-year-old Marco, on the trip. During their stay at the Khan's palace, guests were treated to a refreshing drink based on fruits and spices, which went well with spicy Chinese cuisine. It was Marco who persuaded the cook of Kublai Khan to share with him the secret of preparing this dessert.

The young man was so interested in the exoticism of distant countries that his journey dragged on for twenty years. When Marco Polo returned home, he brought with him not only a huge number of boxes with jewelry and never-before-seen objects, but also an incredible variety of recipes for ancient potions and dishes, including sherbet.

Useful qualities

The benefits of this popular delicacy directly depend on the ingredients it contains. So, the most beneficial for our body will, of course, be a dessert made from natural products - nuts, seeds, fruits or berries.
Walnut sherbet has a rich vitamin and mineral composition . Thus, it contains a fairly high content of tocopherol, which is involved in the functioning of the immune system and helps our body fight the processes of aging and withering. Tocopherol is also necessary for the normal functioning of the female reproductive system, maintaining healthy skin, hair and nails.
Vitamin A , present in the dessert, is beneficial for the musculoskeletal system - it reduces bone fragility and increases the elasticity of joints.
Retinol is also incredibly beneficial for the eyes - it prevents the development of many vision diseases and also prevents vision loss. Therefore, sherbet should be eaten by those who spend a lot of time at the computer or are prone to myopia.
Vitamins PP and K are involved in hematopoietic function and serve as the prevention of iron deficiency anemia.
The product is also rich in B vitamins , which play an important role in the functioning of the digestive system, the most important metabolic processes occurring in the body, as well as regulating mental activity, sleep patterns and the psyche.
Natural fatty acids contained in the dessert are very beneficial for the health of the gastrointestinal tract. They also improve the functioning of the stomach and facilitate the process of digesting food.
It has been noticed that nut sherbet improves the absorption of calcium in the body , thereby strengthening bones and teeth.
Peanuts , which are included in the delicacy, have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, help normalize blood pressure and improve blood flow.
There is a positive effect on the condition of the kidneys and liver . Moderate consumption of sherbet helps cleanse the body of toxins and toxic compounds.
The delicacy is rich in nuts - natural antioxidants that slow down the aging process of the body, and also significantly reduce the risk of developing malignant tumors.
A sweet dessert will help stabilize the psycho-emotional background , improve your mood, and overcome apathy and blues.

Types of sherbet

It so happened that under the same name there are several sweets that differ significantly both in structure, taste and method of preparation. Sherbet is a spicy drink made from fruit juice and spices, fruit ice cream that tastes like liquid sherbet, but has a denser and thicker consistency, and a spicy, viscous sweet made from nuts, dried fruits and condensed milk, reminiscent of a sweet candy. Let's take a closer look at each of the varieties of this sweetness.

Liquid sherbet

The most ancient and ancestor of all other types of sherbet is considered to be a drink that was invented back in the days of Scheherazade, who was considered his fan. The main components of this cool drink were rose petals, rose hips, dogwood and oriental spices. Later, juices and decoctions from apples, oranges, pomegranates, lemons and quinces, as well as sugar and honey, began to be added to sherbet. In some modern recipes, sherbet contains cream, milk and eggs, which were not intended in the original version. The drink is always served chilled, as it has excellent tonic properties and can quickly quench thirst.

To talk about the composition of sherbet, you need to know what exactly is included in it. For example, sherbet made with milk contains methionine, vitamin A, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin D. One cannot fail to mention lactose and protein, which this sorbet is rich in. The fruits that form the basis of fruit sorbet deserve special attention. They saturate the body with vitamins and minerals.

Soft sherbet

Sherbet, a cold snack with the consistency of slightly melted ice cream, originated in France. Inventive French, in order to extend the shelf life of sherbet and make it a full-fledged, cooling dessert, began to mix it with ice cream and freeze it. This type of sherbet is more similar to the fruit drink described above, since their composition is almost identical. The only difference is the consistency. In addition, in addition to fruits and dairy products, dried fruits are often added to soft sherbet. This enriches the composition of the dessert and gives it additional properties. They replenish vitamin A reserves in the body and are excellent natural antioxidants that have a positive effect on health. In addition, dried fruits, and especially dried apricots, are a rich source of minerals that we so need for normal life.

Sherbet in the form of fudge

This type of sherbet is perhaps one of the most common in our culture. Many people are accustomed to perceiving sherbet as a sweet fudge that has a dense structure and resembles a sweet candy with a lot of nuts and spices. Sometimes sherbet can even be too sugary, as it is prepared with a lot of sugar and condensed milk. To prepare sherbet, milk, sour cream or cream, condensed milk, butter, chocolate, sugar, honey, vanillin, several types of nuts, fruits, candied fruits, dried apricots, raisins, prunes and molasses are used. It is not necessary to combine all of the listed ingredients at once. You can take only a few of them at your discretion, which will suit you most.

A thick mixture is boiled from condensed milk, cream and butter, into which the selected ingredients are then added as fillers, everything is mixed well, put in a special form and the mixture is sent to harden in the refrigerator until it becomes solid. After this, sherbet is cut into small pieces and eaten as a nutritious and filling sweet dessert. The presence of nuts in this type of sorbet enriches it with vegetable fats, vitamins A, E and PP, as well as biotin and linoleic acid. The calorie content of sherbet, as well as its composition, depend on the components used. Therefore, it can be both dietary and high-calorie.

Things to remember

Unfortunately, like almost any product, sherbet has not only a lot of useful properties, but also many contraindications, as well as side effects from consumption.

from diabetes or allergies to nuts and fruits should not eat sweets
Do not forget that the product is quite high in calories - its nutritional value can exceed 550 kcal per 100 g . Therefore, it is worth consuming sherbet in moderation and, of course, no more than a couple of times a week, since an excess of sweets in the diet can be fraught with rapid weight gain, skin problems, heart problems and, of course, diabetes.
Pregnant women, as well as women during lactation, should use the treat with caution to avoid an allergic reaction in the baby.
Due to the fairly high sugar content, sherbet may be contraindicated for people with problems with the pancreas or liver .
Unlimited consumption of sweets can provoke the development of dental problems (including caries).

Homemade sherbet

Required:

Candies “Korovka” (I use Samara candies) - 500 gr.
Butter - 90 gr.
Condensed milk - about 1/2 can (130-150 ml.)
Nuts - I have cashews - 150 gr.

How to make sherbet with nuts at home:

If you wish, in addition to nuts and cookies, you can add raisins to your homemade sorbet; in general, add everything you like, this will only make it even tastier. I initially wanted to make my own sorbet with roasted peanuts, but when I went to the trusted department at the market, there simply weren’t any roasted peanuts... At home, frying peanuts is a messy business, so my preference was given to delicious nuts - cashews. Just for fun, I counted the number of sweets in 500 grams - it turned out to be 34 pieces. And one more important point, probably the most important, is to get homemade sherbet with the consistency that is offered to us in stores.
It is important to use Korovka candies, which do not have a liquid core when scrapped. They should be, I would say, lying down, acquiring a single consistency. To prepare sherbet, take a deep, but not large in volume pan, put our Korovka sweets into it, add condensed milk and butter.
Now all we have to do is heat the ingredients. Of course, for a faster result, you can break the candies with your hands, but my candies melted very well - it only took about 5-7 minutes. When the mass has melted, you need to add nuts to it. The cashew nut is large, so I wanted to break it a little.
Mix everything thoroughly... The smell coming through the kitchen is stunning, caramel, you just want to eat this mass... In advance for the sherbet, I prepared a mold in which I lined a regular plastic bag. It can be lightly greased with vegetable oil. This is to make it easier to remove the frozen mass from the mold. Pour the melted sweet mass into the prepared form, let it cool slightly and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, a delicious, sweet, homemade oriental dessert awaits us, a sweetness that can turn many heads. Remove it from the mold and cut into pieces.
Great, I can say that if I didn’t know... If I made this sorbet with my own hands, I would have thought it came from a store. A tasty, tender, fabulous dessert is the best thing to serve at home for tea and, of course, to treat guests who come to the house. At the same time, surprise them that it was prepared at home. Dear housewives, do not be afraid to experiment and surprise, first of all, yourself and your household.

Adviсe

You should not get carried away with store-bought sherbet - it usually contains a huge amount of food additives, dyes and preservatives. If you want to get the maximum benefit, prepare the sweetness yourself - fortunately, the recipe for sherbet is quite simple and can be easily found on the Internet.
Do not forget that there are several ways to prepare delicacies - and a wide variety. If you can't make classic hard sorbet, try making a cocktail according to an ancient Arabic recipe, or nut ice cream, popular in Paris.

Simple berry recipe

Required ingredients:

Any frozen berries – 300 g;
Lemon juice and honey - a tablespoon each;
Granulated sugar – 200 g;
Heavy heavy cream – 50 ml.

How to make sherbet:

We wash and freeze the berries;
Mix sugar and cream in a saucepan, place on low flame and wait for it to boil. When the sugar crystals dissolve, add lemon juice and honey. Boil the mixture for two minutes, remembering to stir constantly;
Cool the resulting mixture completely. This will take about a couple of hours;
Take the berries out of the freezer and place them in a blender container. We also put the creamy mass here and beat everything thoroughly at the highest speed until a homogeneous consistency;
The finished mixture is poured into glasses and special containers for freezing. You can decorate the treat on top with chocolate chips or nuts.

Place the ice cream in the freezer for 4-5 hours until completely frozen. After this time, you can try it.