Gelato
Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 2
Chapter 1 · Gelato
Skill goal
Make gelato with a cornflour base and a custard base and serve it soft for the best flavour.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Gelato is the Italian way of making ice cream: more milk, less cream, less air, and served a little warmer. It is churned slowly so it stays dense and silky, and the flavour is clean and strong. This course assumes the ice cream science from Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 1: small crystals come from fat, sugar, air, speed and stirring.
Gelato and ice cream compared
| Ice cream | Gelato | |
|---|---|---|
| Fat | Higher: lots of cream | Lower: mostly milk (roughly) |
| Air | More whipped in | Less: churned slowly |
| Texture | Light, fluffy | Dense, smooth, silky |
| Served | Colder | A little warmer and softer |
| Keeps | Weeks | A few days |
These differences are general (the exact figures vary by recipe and country); the point is how the style feels.
The two bases
- Cornflour base: milk, cream, sugar and cornflour simmered until thick. No egg and the cleanest milk flavour (fior di latte).
- Custard base: milk, cream, yolks and sugar cooked to coat the spoon (crema). Richer and more yellow.
- Chill overnight in both: a very cold base freezes with smaller crystals.
- Churn slowly in a machine (20 to 25 minutes), or beat by hand as it freezes. The by-hand version will be denser and slightly less smooth.
Hot milk, eggs, nuts and keeping
Cornflour base: the cornflour must be mixed with cold milk first, then simmered for about 2 minutes while stirring, or it tastes chalky. Stir right into the corners of the pan so it doesn't catch and burn.Cooking a custard base: stir constantly over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 75 to 80°C, and never above about 85°C or it scrambles (general guidance; see Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 3). Cool it quickly in iced water and chill overnight. Check current FSA advice if serving to pregnant women or other vulnerable people.
Nuts: pistachios, almonds and other nuts (and pastes made from them) are serious allergens, and some products are made in factories that handle other nuts. Never serve them to a guest without asking, and make a nut-free swap when anyone has an allergy.
Keeping gelato: gelato is made to be eaten fresh. Keep it covered at -18°C and eat within about 3 to 4 days (general guidance), as it turns icy faster than higher-fat ice cream. Stand it for 10 minutes before serving.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Fior di latte (milk gelato)
'Flower of milk': the purest gelato, tasting of clean, sweet milk. A little cornflour gives the body that egg yolks would, so it is the simplest gelato base to make.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 500 ml whole milk, divided
- 100 ml double cream
- 120 g caster sugar
- 25 g cornflour
- 1 pinch salt
- Whisk the cornflour with 100 ml of the cold milk to a smooth slurry.
- Heat the rest of the milk with the cream, sugar and salt, stirring, until steaming and the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the slurry.
- Keep stirring over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens and bubbles lightly. Cool in iced water, stirring, then chill for at least 4 hours.
- Churn in an ice cream machine for 20 to 25 minutes, or freeze in a shallow tub, beating every 30 minutes for about 4 hours. Freeze for 1 hour to firm up.
Hot milk, freezer and allergens
Cornflour base: the cornflour must be mixed with cold milk first, then simmered for about 2 minutes while stirring, or it tastes chalky. Stir right into the corners of the pan so it doesn't catch and burn.Hot sugar syrup and custard: sugar syrup is much hotter than boiling water and sticks to skin, so keep the pan handle turned in and don't touch it. Don't let anything boil over, and keep children away from the hob.
Keeping gelato: gelato is made to be eaten fresh. Keep it covered at -18°C and eat within about 3 to 4 days (general guidance), as it turns icy faster than higher-fat ice cream. Stand it for 10 minutes before serving.
Allergens: ice cream usually contains milk (cream, condensed milk), and often egg, nuts, peanuts, soy (in some chocolate and cookies) and wheat (cookies and cones). Check labels, and never serve a nut-containing ice cream to someone with a nut allergy without telling them. Coconut cream or oat cream can replace dairy cream in some recipes, but the texture changes.
Level 2 · Custard
Vanilla gelato (crema)
'Crema' means cream: a custard gelato. Compared with the custard in Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 3, it has more milk and less cream, which keeps it lighter and lets the vanilla show.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 500 ml whole milk
- 100 ml double cream
- 4 Lion-marked egg yolks
- 110 g caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, split and scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla paste)
- 1 pinch salt
- Heat the milk, cream and vanilla until just steaming. Whisk the yolks, sugar and salt until pale.
- Pour the hot milk onto the yolks a little at a time, whisking. Return to the pan and stir over a low heat for 5 to 8 minutes until it coats the spoon.
- Strain, cool in iced water and chill overnight. Churn for 20 to 25 minutes, or beat by hand as it freezes.
Custard, eggs and allergens
Cooking a custard base: stir constantly over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 75 to 80°C, and never above about 85°C or it scrambles (general guidance; see Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 3). Cool it quickly in iced water and chill overnight. Check current FSA advice if serving to pregnant women or other vulnerable people.Eggs: use eggs with the British Lion mark and wash your hands after handling raw egg. This course never serves raw egg: custards are cooked, and the no-churn and sorbet recipes have none. Pregnant women, babies, older people and anyone unwell should check current FSA advice before eating egg dishes, even cooked custard.
Hot sugar syrup and custard: sugar syrup is much hotter than boiling water and sticks to skin, so keep the pan handle turned in and don't touch it. Don't let anything boil over, and keep children away from the hob.
Keeping gelato: gelato is made to be eaten fresh. Keep it covered at -18°C and eat within about 3 to 4 days (general guidance), as it turns icy faster than higher-fat ice cream. Stand it for 10 minutes before serving.
Level 2 · Flavour
Chocolate gelato
A dark, dense, deeply chocolatey gelato. Whisk the cocoa with the sugar before it goes in the milk to avoid lumps, and melt the chocolate into the hot base.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 batch fior di latte base (increase the sugar to 140 g)
- 40 g cocoa powder, sifted
- 80 g dark chocolate (about 70%), finely chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Mix the cocoa with the sugar, then whisk in the cold slurry of cornflour and milk until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and the cream and heat, stirring, until thick (about 3 minutes).
- Take off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and vanilla and stir until completely smooth. Strain.
- Cool, chill overnight and churn or freeze with beating.
Hot base, allergens and freezer
Cornflour base: the cornflour must be mixed with cold milk first, then simmered for about 2 minutes while stirring, or it tastes chalky. Stir right into the corners of the pan so it doesn't catch and burn.Allergens: ice cream usually contains milk (cream, condensed milk), and often egg, nuts, peanuts, soy (in some chocolate and cookies) and wheat (cookies and cones). Check labels, and never serve a nut-containing ice cream to someone with a nut allergy without telling them. Coconut cream or oat cream can replace dairy cream in some recipes, but the texture changes.
Keeping gelato: gelato is made to be eaten fresh. Keep it covered at -18°C and eat within about 3 to 4 days (general guidance), as it turns icy faster than higher-fat ice cream. Stand it for 10 minutes before serving.
Level 3 · Nut
Pistachio gelato
The classic gelato flavour. Real pistachio paste gives a pale brownish-green gelato with a deep roasted taste: bright green gelato usually means colouring. Whisk the paste into the hot custard until smooth, and strain to remove any gritty bits.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 batch vanilla gelato custard (leave out the vanilla)
- 100 g 100% pistachio paste, unsalted (or 100 g shelled unsalted pistachios, ground very fine)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp chopped pistachios, to serve
- Make the custard as for the vanilla gelato (without the vanilla).
- While it is still hot, whisk in the pistachio paste and salt until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve.
- Cool in iced water, chill overnight and churn or freeze with beating. Scatter with chopped pistachios to serve.
Nuts, custard and eggs
Nuts: pistachios, almonds and other nuts (and pastes made from them) are serious allergens, and some products are made in factories that handle other nuts. Never serve them to a guest without asking, and make a nut-free swap when anyone has an allergy.Cooking a custard base: stir constantly over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 75 to 80°C, and never above about 85°C or it scrambles (general guidance; see Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 3). Cool it quickly in iced water and chill overnight. Check current FSA advice if serving to pregnant women or other vulnerable people.
Eggs: use eggs with the British Lion mark and wash your hands after handling raw egg. This course never serves raw egg: custards are cooked, and the no-churn and sorbet recipes have none. Pregnant women, babies, older people and anyone unwell should check current FSA advice before eating egg dishes, even cooked custard.
Nut-free swap: make fior di latte instead and serve it with a fruit sauce.
Experiments
Experiment
Fat level
Milk only or milk and cream.
- Make two small batches of fior di latte, one with all milk and one with the cream as written. Freeze both.
Look for: The all-milk batch is lighter and icier; the creamier batch is silkier. Gelato sits between the two, so this shows why the cream is kept small.
Experiment
Serving temperature
Straight from the freezer or after standing.
- Serve the same gelato straight from the freezer and after 10 minutes at room temperature.
Look for: Straight from the freezer it is hard and tastes of little. After standing it is soft, silky and much more flavourful. This is why gelato is served warmer.
Experiment
Cornflour or egg
Two bases.
- Make small batches of vanilla gelato with the cornflour base and the custard base. Taste side by side.
Look for: The cornflour base is cleaner and whiter with a pure milk taste; the custard base is richer and more eggy. Neither is wrong.
Experiment
Machine or by hand
Churned or beaten.
- If you have a machine, churn one batch and beat another by hand. Compare.
Look for: The machine batch is denser and smoother; the hand-beaten one is slightly icier. By hand is a good second best.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fior di latte | ||||
| Vanilla gelato | ||||
| Chocolate gelato | ||||
| Pistachio gelato | ||||
| Fat level | ||||
| Serving temperature | ||||
| Cornflour or egg | ||||
| Machine or hand |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Chalky taste | Cornflour not cooked enough | Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring |
| Lumpy base | Cornflour or cocoa not mixed smooth | Make a slurry with cold milk; strain |
| Icy gelato | Base not cold, or stored too long | Chill overnight; eat within a few days |
| Scrambled custard | Too hot | Cook lower; strain; whisk hard |
| Gritty pistachio | Paste not smooth | Whisk into hot custard and strain |
| Too hard | Straight from the freezer | Stand 10 minutes before serving |
Hot milk, eggs, nuts and allergens
Cornflour base: the cornflour must be mixed with cold milk first, then simmered for about 2 minutes while stirring, or it tastes chalky. Stir right into the corners of the pan so it doesn't catch and burn.Cooking a custard base: stir constantly over a low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 75 to 80°C, and never above about 85°C or it scrambles (general guidance; see Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 1, chapter 3). Cool it quickly in iced water and chill overnight. Check current FSA advice if serving to pregnant women or other vulnerable people.
Nuts: pistachios, almonds and other nuts (and pastes made from them) are serious allergens, and some products are made in factories that handle other nuts. Never serve them to a guest without asking, and make a nut-free swap when anyone has an allergy.
Allergens: ice cream usually contains milk (cream, condensed milk), and often egg, nuts, peanuts, soy (in some chocolate and cookies) and wheat (cookies and cones). Check labels, and never serve a nut-containing ice cream to someone with a nut allergy without telling them. Coconut cream or oat cream can replace dairy cream in some recipes, but the texture changes.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can explain how gelato differs from ice cream.
- I can make a cornflour base and a custard base.
- I chill a base overnight before freezing.
- I serve gelato soft, not straight from the freezer.
- I can say which recipes contain nuts.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Ice Cream 2, chapter 2 is Granita and Shaved Ice: light, icy crystals scraped with a fork.