I decided a few days ago that gelato would be a fun birthday treat. I decided on vanilla with hazelnut chocolate spread and chopped hazelnuts.
I have made Hazelnut Gelato before (recipe here) and it’s yummy. But I wanted guests to have the option of plain gelato, a variety of chopped nuts, chocolate sauce and the hazelnut spread. So that’s what we had today.
The key to a great vanilla ice cream or gelato is using the best vanilla extract you can find, or really splurge and use vanilla beans.
This is the base for all gelato:
Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolk
- 2/3 cup sugar
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.
Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.
*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.
For Vanilla Gelato: Just before freezing the gelato, mix in the vanilla and then add to the ice cream freezer. Use 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract depending on how intense you like your vanilla flavor.
One final note. If you’re wondering what the difference is between Gelato, Sorbet and Ice Cream, click here for a pretty good explanation.
Do you know what you have now? Four egg whites. And what can you do with those? Why not make some gluten-free Chocolate-Walnut Cookies?
Dad update: he’s coming home on Saturday. I’ll make the trip out (again) and make sure he’s all set up. But he’s looking good and ready to continue his PT at home. Thanks for all the kind words and good thoughts over the past few weeks.
Respite open thread.
Baud
Happy birthday, T.
Elizabelle
Happy Birthday, TaMara. Wish you full energy and your dad back home soonest.
SiubhanDuinne
Happy, happy birthday, TaMara! That gelato looks divine … mmmmmmmmmm.
Elizabelle
Love the cookie recipe. I have everything except the dark cocoa. Could you just throw in some dark chocolate?
Although: Jeffrey’s roasting a test duck — that has not aged well. They’re in scarves. Leave them aloooooone.
debbie
Happy birthday! Suddenly, I’m very hungry…
Yutsano
Yay good Dad news! Just a recommendation regarding finding a clinic for him: check to see if the therapist did their undergrad at BYU. I have found Mormon therapists to be excellent. And no you can’t have my mean Mormon cuss. :P
I don’t own an ice cream machine. But I keep watching this honeysemifreddo recipe from Nigella and I keep drooling. I would definitely have to splurge for decent honey for that. I wonder if Winco still sells their orange honey. That would be brilliant in this.
prostratedragon
Happy birthday to you, and continued good progress to your father.
I might have to think about making some ice cream or gelato for Christmas, maybe …
Emma from FL
Happy birthday! And now I want cookies….
WaterGirl
Happy Birthday, TaMara! Your dad coming home is a great gift to all of you.
Keith P.
I saw Marco Pierre White laud the hell out of this dish (honey semifreddo w/ lemon crumb and lemon honey caramel) on MasterChef and have it on my to-do list. I like that it doesn’t require an ice cream maker, since I gave my Cuisinart away.
Ms. Deranged in AZ
Happy birthday!!! I hope you had a wonderful day.
FelonyGovt
Happy birthday! That gelato sounds delicious.
Lapassionara
Happy birthday, Tamara. Thank you for all your recipe posts and pet posts, and all the things you do to help us keep our cheer.
Joe Falco
Happy birthday! I’m trying my hand at making individual meringues tonight. There are a few meringue cakes I’m interested in making, but I’d like to make sure I can actually make the meringue right first!
mousebumples
Happy birthday, Tamara!
Related to the gelato recipe – I made some amazing “avocado fudge” the other day from old avocados that ended up being more like an avocado sorbet. It was a variation on this recipe – though I added raspberries from our garden and made a few other switches (e.g. no bananas in the house) based on what we had on hand. I had put it in a 8×13″ Pyrex container, so we just cut out squares to eat every few days. It’s long gone, but I think I now have a new ‘favorite’ for when we have leftover avocados that are getting a bit overripe …
dww44
Happy Birthday, Tamara. Love your recipes and may have to try your gelato, although to be honest, I’ve kinda not cottoned to it before.
HumboldtBlue
As my youngest grand-niece used to say “happy day day!”
laura
I hope this coming year includes improved health for you, your dad, your doggies, ducks, our country, the world. All the best TaMara.
Amir Khalid
@Yutsano:
Adam Ragusea has a YouTube video on how to make ice cream ohne ice cream machine.
WaterGirl
@laura: What a lovely birthday wish.
Uncle Cosmo
How can this recipe be adjusted to replace the sugar with a sugar substitute (saccharine, sucralose, stevia)? Or is it just another entry in the “Jus de Ballon” Death to Diabetics Cookbook?
Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám, by the way.
Sasha
Gonna have to try this. (I normally use a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cookbook — nothing heated or cooked so I pasteurize eggs with my sous vide.)