Gelato
Italian frozen dessert; vanilla home recipe
Smooth Italian gelato comes in milk, nut, chocolate and fruit flavors, served in a cup or cone while still softly scoopable.
A gelateria’s selection of flavorsA cup, a cone,
your favorite flavors.
Gelato is Italy’s churned frozen dessert, sold in a changing range of flavors at gelaterie, or ice-cream shops. Milk-based flavors can include vanilla, chocolate and nuts, while fruit preparations use different bases. The texture is smooth and dense, with enough softness to taste each spoonful.
A shop counter can offer many recipes rather than one standard mixture. The photograph shows an assortment; the home recipe below makes one vanilla custard gelato with milk, a little cream and egg yolks. It needs an ice-cream maker, thorough chilling and time in the freezer before serving.
Explore by food: Desserts
Let’s make vanilla gelato.
Requires a ready-to-use ice-cream maker with at least a 1.5 l bowl. Freeze its bowl beforehand if your machine requires it.
About 1 l: eight small servings. Requires an ice-cream maker ready to churn.
Prep includes a 30-minute churn. Rest/chill includes 20 minutes cooling, 4 hours refrigeration, 2 hours firming and 10 minutes softening. Start with a ready-to-use machine; any freezer-bowl preparation is additional.
What you’ll need
- 600 mlwhole milk
- 150 mlheavy cream
- 130 gcaster sugar
- 4 largeegg yolks, about 80 g
- 1vanilla pod
- as neededice and cold water, for a cooling bath
Use the machine’s texture cue rather than the clock alone. A freezer-bowl machine may require its bowl to freeze for 24 hours or more before starting; follow its instructions. That equipment preparation is additional to the displayed recipe time.
How to make it
- 01
Warm the milk
Split the vanilla pod and scrape out its seeds. Heat milk, cream, seeds and pod in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a separate bowl.
- 02
Cook the custard
Whisk a ladle of warm milk into the yolks, then gradually add the rest. Return to the saucepan. Stir over low heat until the mixture reaches 82°C/180°F and lightly coats a spoon; do not boil.
- 03
Cool and chill
Remove the pod and strain into a clean bowl. Stand the bowl in ice and cold water, keeping bath water out, and stir until cool, about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until thoroughly cold.
- 04
Churn
Pour into the ready-to-use machine and churn according to its instructions, allowing about 30 minutes, until thick like soft-serve. Do not exceed the machine’s fill limit.
- 05
Firm and serve
Transfer to a shallow freezer-safe container, cover and freeze for at least 2 hours until scoopable. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving if too firm. The shop flavors pictured are separate from this vanilla preparation.
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