How to Make Sherbet

Make your own sherbet in a few minutes.

Step 1: Introduction

In the UK, sherbet is a toothsome powdered treat (usually packaged as a Sherbet Fountain) that ranks right up there with humbugs, aniseed balls and candy cigarettes as a reminder of our tooth-rotting, sepia-tinted youth. Many an English schoolchild spent his weekly pocket-money on bright yellow cardboard tubes with a length of bright black liquorice sticking out of the end. Sherbet Fountain? They looked more like sticks of dynamite than sugary water-features!

Was there ever a confectionery as inconvenient as the sherbet fountain? The tube always went soggy, the sticky black liquorice always clogged up after the first suck, and the whole thing left you wreathed in clouds of dust. You always ended up eating the straw and then slugging the fizzy powder straight from the tube. All this got you was a nose full of the dust that made you sneeze and a mouth full of fizz that made you cough, yet still you went back for more.

Comments

[PotatoCoffee]

No pictures?

[Kiteman]

Check the date - this was my first ible.

Anyway, it would only be photos of different-sized piles of white powder.

(As I said elsewhere in these comments)

[PotatoCoffee]

I realise that but still.

[shadow wave rider]

can u make this without citric acid. if you can what can you use

[Kiteman]

I've never tried it with anything else.

Whatever you try, it must be a solid, edible acid.

[shadow wave rider]

ok, if you try something else instead of citric acid then tell me.

[farzadbayan]

Your first Instructable with no picture , have the most view in yours !

[farzadbayan]

Sorry , I think that is your most viewed , yes , you have many Instructables that they have more views that this !
I don't know why I make that mistake !
Also do you know we have Sherbet in Persian ? Here we call it Sharbat .

[Kiteman]

I have many others with more views.  Have a look.

[zoltzerino]

 The tubes are now made of plastic...99% of the fun of a sherbet fountain has gone, lost in time, a tale I shall tell my children and their children and their children.

[lemonie]

All your pictures have gone(?) L

[Kiteman]

Check the date - this was my first ible.

Anyway, it would only be photos of different-sized piles of white powder.

(As I said elsewhere in these comments)

[lemonie]

Sorry, I thought the site had "done you a nasty" or something similar. Still, you could go back and add pictures of various white powders?
This was my first I'ble, I deleted mine, and I kind of wish I hadn't - it was popular...

L

[sharlston]

what was your first ible??? :)

[lemonie]

It was about exploding camping-gas on fires. L

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

wish you hadnt deleted it......:(

[lemonie]

It was attracting too many comments... All you really do is build a big fire and toss a 500ml can of camping-gas on it (but there was more detail) L

[sharlston]

cool ps youre up late arent you? :)

[lemonie]

I make it 10:45, isn't it you who are up late? (that fireball is about 10 feet across at the top) L

[Nicola Tesla]

what is with the ''L''?

[lemonie]

Habit

L

[sharlston]

i have late nights evrynow and again normaly til around 4 oclock then go back on ibles to check my comments

[ash121]

Citric Acid makes it sour for those who don't know. so the more the sourer.

[ash121]

also with this one i have found that it work better without the bi-carb soda. you can add food colouring too. what you do is when you have got the taste right then you add the colouring and mix it, it will become wet and clumpy but don't worry. Then you put it in the fridge or the cupboard, overnight is a good amount of time to let it dry. (:

[ash121]

haha. the sherbet fountains... I am still a kid (well, and older one) and this year my dad bought me and my siblings one of these back from a place he had to go on a work call. urghh it was terrible. BUT YUMMY! haha. i am glad that i am not the only one that had trouble with resisting the urge of eating the straw. :)

[gtoal]

Does this work with Splenda? (Sucralose)

[lifelong-newbie]

Yes, the sugar is only thee as a flavouring, it doesn't contribute to the chemical reaction, it justs takes the edge off the citric acid

[struckbyanarrow]

no pictures you should be ashamed of yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kiteman]

Check the date - this was my first ible. Anyway, it would only be photos of different-sized piles of white powder.

[awang8]

True

[RedFlash]

Very true

[Gavabc123]

sherbet reminds me got to do homework

[Kiteman]

Eh? How does "sherbet" = "homework"?

[awang8]

Maybe science homework "acid + alkaline = carbon dioxide"?

[cowscankill]

his homework may be about the history of icecream, and when someone added sherbert to icecream :P

[omnibot]

Interresting fact about ice-cream: Margret Thatcher, the iron lady and ruler of Britain during the golden years, was part of the science-team that developed soft ice-cream. Bet you didn't know that :)

[Gavabc123]

I knew about Margret thatcher being an iron lady but no idea about the science team that developed soft ice cream.

[Gavabc123]

my homework is to write an essay on Global Warming with the thesis statement, body and a conclusion the sherbet reminded me because.......

[cowscankill]

You didn't finish the sentance!

[Gavabc123]

about not finishing the sentence...... well um bye

[Clank_95]

Very good instructo! nice and easy while being clear and precise. thx +1

[Lt. Duct Tape]

Now i sell this at school in pen tools for 50 cents a pop. some weirdos snort the stuff. Ah well, business is business. Thanks Kiteman!

[Kiteman]

Er, you're welcome. You have told them that there are no psycho-actives in this? That the "acid" is just vitamin C, not LSD?

[Lt. Duct Tape]

I told them it was just sugar and certain fruit juices. they snort just about everything anyway, so it doesnt matter.

[Vendigroth]

heh. you got it ABsolutely right about the sherbert fountains, the stuff got EVERYWHERE, more ended up on the floor than did in my mouth....sherbert fights are always fun..i don't think i've had a sherbert fountain for years, since i was 9 or something. gawd, i sound old

[DavidRobertson]

Yup. it gets wet and sticks together in the tube so you cant get it out.

[miss nina]

shrebet is nice cause i like it sour...

[miss nina]

i think this site is cool because it helps you with food that you want to make love it

[Kiteman]

Why, thank you, Miss Nina. Even better, though, why not show us how to make something you love - I'm looking forward to your first Instructable.

[Doctor What]

I've gotten sherbet once, but it was covered in powdered sugar, any reason for that besides taste???

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

Shurbet is perfect for the Sweet Treat group, Kiteman. I would be honored if you joined it.

[Kiteman]

Thank you for the invitation, and done.

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

Thanks! I was hoping it didn't sound like spam.

[Kiteman]

Not in the least, plus it was an internal link, so couldn't be proper spam.

[bumsugger]

Thanx Kiteman,I'll give it a shot,and regress a few(?) years,Nice one !

[princess-21]

You can also add jelly crystals to make it taste better

[knex forger]

can i use tartaric acid instead of citric acid

[Kiteman]

I think so, but I've not tried. It should be OK - try it and let us know.

[Kiteman]

Bomberboy10 - I wrote the article on the BBC website, along with eight other articles accepted for their encyclopedia. That's how I earned my Official Field Researcher badge.

Maybe you ought to check your facts before you cast any more libellous comments around?

[bomberboy10]

soz man i didnt no ur pretty cool then ill take it off

[bomberboy10]

it wont let me take it away

[Kiteman]

It's gone now. All cool.

[lemonie]

Could you give me some proportions? I was tasting my citric acid at the weekend, and never thought of this (dumbkopf!) L

[Kiteman]

Start with equal proportions, and take it from there. You will find that "more mature" individuals prefer more acid than younger people, so it is very much down to personal taste.

[radiorental]

very well written, great instructable. Brought some memories back. Like er.. was it Moondust or Stardust that crackled in your mouth? Luckybags and WagonWheels. I could murder a Creme Egg right now )o; Just back from the dentist today... years of tooth abuse as a child has taken its toll