Best Basic Gelato Recipes

BASIC GELATO BASE

Steps:

• The Base:.
• In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cream. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy, thick and ribbon like. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.
• Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.
• At this point, you can add 2 tablespoons of any alcohol you think would taste good with your flavors. This would also be when you would want to add the vanilla extract.
• Place your mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes before churning, so the mix is as close to 0°C (32°F) as possible.
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm.
• A little tip for service: because gelato contains less fat, it tends to freeze a lot harder. Take your gelato out of the freezer approximately 15 minutes before serving to soften it.
• Adding Flavors:.
• Add fruit purees, or real juice, make sure that the puree does not exceed 1/2 the base volume (unfrozen), or the juice 1/4 the base volume.
• Add Nuts, chucks/chips, dried fruit or chopped fresh fruit; no more than 1/4 the base volume. Added in the last 1-2 minutes of the freezing cycle. Can be folded in before after churning but before freezing.
• Chocolate sauce (Hershey's ®), Nutella ®, or peanut butter can be added to base before freezing, or after cooking based on consistency of product being added. 1/4 - 1/2 cup.

BASIC VANILLA GELATO

Steps:

• In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes. Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and any other non-solid flavor you'd like. I usually add two shots of espresso for my wife's favorite, espresso flavored gelato. I also add in Heath bar pieces in the last few minutes in the ice cream maker. This is a pretty good rule of thumb for making your own flavors. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze.

BASIC WINE GELATO

Steps:

• Heat and mix milk, cream, and sugar in a saucepan to 180 degrees F. Cool in the refrigerator overnight. Add wine and freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

BASIC GELATO

Steps:

• Heat the milk in a saucepan. Add half the sugar and bring to a simmer. Steep your flavor ingredients, (vanilla bean, nuts, ginger, mint, etc.) if any, for 30 minutes. Whisk the other half of the sugar with the egg yolks in another bowl. Add the milk to the eggs gradually and then return everything to the saucepan. Gently cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until steam begins to rise. Add the salt and strain mixture into a bowl. Chill at least 6 hours, then finish in ice cream maker.