Carrot, Orange & Mango Spheres with Rose Crystals

A refreshing sphere that bursts in the mouth releasing a delicious juice blend of sweet carrots, zesty orange and tropical mango. The rose crystals add a nice crunchy texture and pair perfectly with the juice. The Frozen Reverse Spherification technique used in this recipe, which consists of freezing the main ingredient in hemispheric silicone molds, reduces the preparation time, does not require practice and results in perfectly shaped spheres of consistent size. The hemispheric silicone mold is included in the Molecular Gastronomy Essentials Kit, the Molecular Gastronomy Premium Kit and the Molecular Gastronomy Ultimate Kit.

Watch the video below to master the Frozen Spherification Technique!

Ingredients

Carrot Orange Mango Juice

- 300 ml (10 oz) carrot juice (about 1 1/2 pounds of carrots)

- 150 ml (5 oz) orange juice (about three oranges)

- 50 ml (1.7 oz) mango juice (about half mango)

- sugar to taste

Carrot Orange Mango Juice Spheres

- 250g (8.8 oz) carrot orange mango juice

- 5g calcium lactate gluconate (2%)

- Extra juice to store the spheres if you are not planning to consume them within a few hours.

Garnish

- Rose Flower Crystals

Spherification Bath

- 1000 g (35 oz) distilled water

- 5 g sodium alginate (0.5%)

Tools

- Silicone hemisphere mold

- Blender

Carrot orange mango Juice

1- Mix the juices and calcium lactate gluconate.

2- Add sugar to taste.

3- Place hemispheric silicone mold on a cutting board, flat pan or plate so you can keep it flat while you place it in the freezer. Fill the hemispheric mold with the carrot orange mango juice and let it freeze overnight.

Spherification Alginate Bath

Dispersing and Hydrating Sodium Alginate

1- Mix the sodium alginate with the distilled water using a blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that it may take longer than expected.

Removing Air Bubbles

2- Strain the mix and store it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap overnight to eliminate the air bubbles.

Creating Spheres with Frozen Reverse Spherification

1- You are now ready to start the spherification process! Warm the alginate bath in the microwave (around 65 °C / 150 °F).

2- Pop a few frozen carrot-mango hemispheres into the warm alginate bath. It is important that they don’t touch or they will stick to each other. A flat bottomed container will make it easier when “cooking” multiple spheres.

3- Leave the spheres "cooking" for about 2 minutes in the alginate bath. Try with one sphere first until you find the right timing which depends on how fast the frozen hemisphere thaws. If the membrane is too weak, leave it a little longer in the bath. If it is too thick, reduce the time. After you practice with a few spheres, you’ll be able to tell if they are ready by just lifting the spheres just above the surface of the bath using a slotted spoon.

4- Carefully remove the carrot-mango spheres using a slotted spoon.

5- Rinse them very gently in a bowl with warm water.

6- Transfer them to a container with water or carrot-mango juice while you make more spheres.

7- Store the spheres in the fridge until serving time.

One of the biggest benefits of Reverse Spherification is that you can store the spheres to be consumed later. If you leave the spheres in contact with air, the gel will start to dry and eventually break. You need to store them in a liquid bath. However, since the gel membrane around the sphere is permeable to small molecules, osmosis will occur if submerged in water and dilute the flavored liquid inside the sphere. To preserve the flavor, store them in a bath of the same flavored liquid in the fridge, carrot-mango juice in this case.

1- Place the carrot-mango spheres on appetizer spoons.

2- Garnish with Rose Flower Crystals.