Another Part Of Ice Cream.....Gelato...An Italian Ice Cream

Gelato - Italian Ice Cream

What is gelato?An Italian word literally meaning frozen, gelato is more commonly used by English speaking people to refer to Italian ice cream Originally called mantecato, gelato is believed to have its origins in Northern Italy.

What is the difference between gelato and traditional American style ice cream?There are 4 principal differences - fat content, key ingredients, texture and taste. Gelato contains less butterfat - 4-8% compared to 10-18% in American style ice cream. Gelato's key ingredients are whole milk, sugar (usually caster sugar), flavorings (especially fresh fruit) and sometimes skimmed milk powder (adds viscosity and helps stop ice crystals building up).

Most standard gelato recipes do not use cream or eggs but when cream is used, it's often a good idea to ensure there are strong flavorings in the recipe to avoid the gelato becoming too bland. Gelato is not as frozen in texture when served - it's more of a semi-frozen ice cream and is generally best eaten fresh on the day it's made. The taste of gelato is generally agreed to be purer on the palate, especially gelato made with water (sorbetto).

Making Gelato

The method of making gelato is not really any different to that of the standard recognised method for all quality ice cream - ie. freezing the mixture whilst being stirred, a method you can pretty much emulate at home using an electric ice cream maker. It's this method that ensures ice crystals don't build up.

Gelato also has quite a low % content of air in the ice cream. Too much sugar in a gelato recipe will mean it won't freeze properly (sugar lowers the freezing temperature) and too much alcohol in a gelato recipe will stop ice crystals from forming. So getting the balance right of ingredients such as these can take a bit of experimentation.

Gelato Made With Water - Sorbetto Non-dairy gelato originates from Southern Italy and is made with water and fruits - generally referred to as sorbetto. The texture of sorbetto can vary depending upon the ingredients, especially the level of sugar content. Not enough sugar in the sorbetto will produce a grainy texture but some people in fact prefer this because it allows the other ingredients to have a stronger taste.

Before Serving Gelato

When making homemade gelato, it is generally best to put it into a freezerproof container with lid and freeze for about 2 hours before you actually serve it for eating. After Freezing Gelato In A Freezerproof Container When you remove your homemade gelato from the freezer it can sometimes be a little too hard. If this is the case, remove the lid and put the container into a refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. This should give your gelato a good texture that is enjoyable to eat.

Serving Gelato

Gelato is usually served in a bowl with wafers/biscuits or in a cone. If you buy gelato at cafe or ice cream parlor you'll find it served from a different kind of freezer to what you normally see for American style ice cream. It's called a forced air freezer which prevents the gelato from becoming too frozen.

Chocolate Gelato Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pints (1,000ml) milk

5 oz (125g) sugar or caster sugar

8oz (150g) dark chocolate (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)


Place the milk, sugar and vanilla extract into a saucepan and stir whilst heating the pan slowly to dissolve the sugar. DO NOT BOIL the mixture. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat.

Add the chopped chocolate to the pan and stir until fully melted. Leave the whole mixture to cool then transfer into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.


Pistachio Gelato

About 3 cups (3/4 liter)

2 cups (½ liter) whole milk
1/3 cup (65 gr) sugar
2 tablespoons (16 gr) cornstarch (also known as corn flour)
7 ounces (200 gr) Bronte pistachio pastea
few drops of lemon or orange juice

1. Make a slurry by mixing the 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch, mixing until the starch is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

2. Heat the rest of the milk in a medium-sized saucepan with the sugar.

3. When it almost starts to boil, stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook at gentle simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from heat, scrape into a bowl, and chill thoroughly, preferably overnight. 5. Once chilled, whisk in the pistachio paste and just a few drops of citrus juice until smooth.

6. Freeze the gelato in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Pistachio paste recipe

Pistachio paste is bought by professional pastry chefs in shops like G. Detout to flavor everything from ice creams and custards to pies and macaroons.

Here is his recipe

Pierre Hermé's Pistachio Paste

500 gr shelled pistachios

125 gr white almond powder

250 gr sugar

7 cl water

a few drops bitter almond extract

Pound the pistachios in a heavy mortar.

This is heavy work and it takes a very long time to obtain a fine powder.

Using an electrical kitchen mixer can help but is no panacea as the pistachio crumbles will pile up on each side until the blade runs on empty space.

The paste starts to look like baklava offal.

Mix in the ground almonds.

Add one or two drops of bitter almond extract. This is a very potent substance and it will quickly overwhelm the pistachios - be careful.

In a saucepan mix 7 grams (0.7 dl) water with 250 gr sugar . Use a copper bowl or heavy bottomed saucepan or mix constantly to avoid sugar burning on hotspots . Heat until the temperature reaches 121 C°.

Pour the scalding hot sugar over the pistachio paste and mix in quickly to prevent crystallization.

We are drawing near to completion when the paste starts to look like baklava offal.
Carefully add one teaspoon water at a time and mix thoroughly until you obtain a marzipan-like texture. Do not use too much water!

Knead well with both hands to get a smooth, homogeneous mixture.
Store in a plastic bag and freeze for best preservation.

Pistachio paste (easy)

This is the pistachio version of almond paste. If you want your paste to not be green, soak the pistachios overnight, and then remove the skins with a tea towel. If you leave the skins on, you end up with a product whose color can best be termed "unfortunate". On the other hand, if you are using pistachio paste in a recipe and want the end product to be green, you might want to leave the skins on.

1/3 cup pistachios
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2-4 Tablespoons water

Grind the pistachios in a food processor for 1-2 minutes, until it's a near fine powder. Add the sugar and incorporate into the nuts.

This step is critical. Add water to mixture in the processor, one tablespoon at a time, until the paste has the consistency of marzipan. You want to err on the side of too little water rather than too much. The paste should not look liquidy, and should be easily held and shaped when in your hand.

Other's pic of Gelato