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View File PhotoGelato sits in a dish, waiting to be eaten. According to Ronnie Lee, the chief executive officer of Gelato Café, sherbert technically is not ice cream. Advertisement

You asked for questions (about) subject matters that may be keeping (us) up at night.

My husband and I love a little treat every night while we're watching the History Channel. Just like his mother used to make him when he was sick, we make ourselves a lime sherbet and ginger ale float.

On the seventh of March, my friend and I went to the grocery store. I had a coupon for 65 cents off when you buy two of this Kroger Deluxe product.

When we got to the checkout, I gave the cashier my coupon and she scanned it in. For some reason, the computer brought up an alert saying that I did not purchase the appropriate item that corresponded with the coupon.

"I don't know, ma'am, but the computer says it's not ice cream," the cashier said with a smile.

I guess if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, is shaped like a duck and has the same ingredients as a duck, it's not always a duck.

-- Big Mama Mays

Henderson

According to Ronnie Lee, a connoisseur of the frozen dessert and the chief executive officer of Gelato Café, sherbet is technically not ice cream.

"The definitions for ice cream are based on FDA standards," Lee said, explaining that ice cream is required to contain at least 10 percent butter fat, while premium ice cream has 12 to 14 percent.

"Sherbet's liquid base is made from a mixture of cream and water that has less than 10 percent butter fat," he said. "Having less cream usually accentuates the flavor."

Another key ingredient that sherbet lacks when compared to ice cream is air, Lee explained.

"True ice cream is based on an air-to-solid ratio. The more air that's in your product, the less taste it has because air has no taste. Some ice creams have up to 50 percent air in them, which is incorporated when the product is churned."

Furthermore, a quick check of the United States Department of Argriculture Web site, www.ams.usda.gov, revealed that sherbet is a frozen dessert that typically contains fruit.

Sherbet has no more than 2 percent milk fat, with about 1 gram of fat per serving.

Sherbet is generally denser than ice cream, with higher levels of sweetener.