A number of years ago, my extended family took a trip to Northern Italy. It was during our travels through the ancient hill towns of Tuscany that we fell in love with gelato (Italian ice cream – gelato literally means “frozen”). We ate it constantly – at least once, often twice a day. Having young kids in tow, gelato became the elixir that fortified us for tours through countless duomos (cathedrals) and collections of antiquities, and cooled us off after steep ascents through the narrow cobblestone streets of tiny picturesque hilltop villages. We came back to the states completely hooked and continued to devour gelato wherever we could find it. Sadly for us, it seems the new iced dairy fad is frozen yogurt, and when our favorite gelato storefront closed last year we decided it was time to make our own.
Adoring gelato fans like my family, appreciate its rich, dense texture versus the lighter ice cream we find in this country. Gelato tastes like it’s loaded with butterfat and egg yolks, but in fact it’s actually lower in fat and often eggless. Its consistency is a result of the fact that it contains very little air as compared to ice cream thanks to its unique manufacturing process. In our household we don’t have a gelato machine, just a simple Cuisinart ice cream maker we bought for less than $50 on Amazon a few years back. So putting ourselves to the task of gelato making seemed daunting – we were going to have to get creative.
Lucky for us, it turned out to be relatively easy to approximate the smooth, thick consistency of the authentic Italian stuff and surprisingly simple. The addition of one ingredient does the trick – cornstarch. We even had some gathering dust in the cupboard. Cornstarch is traditionally used in gelato made in Sicily, and if you want an eggless mix, it’s the way to go. All we had to do was combine a little cornstarch with the usual milk and cream on the stove, making a custard-like base.
The recipe is super easy. Our girls, ages 11 and 13, can do everything on their own – without meddling from Mom. All I have to do is help them scoop the frozen mix out of the ice cream maker canister, something I am happy to do since it involves licking the spoon at the end – if the cooks let me have some (which they generally do).
Though the process is straightforward, it does require advance planning. The ice cream maker canister must be completely frozen before you start (for a full 24 hours), and the gelato mixture must be well chilled before it is put in the machine and then placed in the freezer for 3 hours after. Each of these steps is critical, unless you want a semi-frozen mush. Consider making the morning of the night you plan to serve or the day before.
With sweet summer strawberries, the flavor is refreshing and intense. Try substituting other summer berries as well, alone or mixed – raspberries are especially nice. Buon appetito!
