Traditional Italian Gelato Recipe - Delicious Authentic Flavors (2024)

FAQs

What is authentic Italian gelato made of? ›

The ingredients for gelato

To make a good craft gelato, you can choose from a wide range of ingredients, depending on your needs and on the tastes of your customers. Very common ingredients such as milk, sugar, fruit, water, cream, eggs, powdered milk and fructose are used.

Circa 1565, Bernardo Buontalenti, an innovator in ice conservation, made a sorbet with ice, salt, lemon, wine, milk, sugar, egg, and honey, "plus orange and bergamot flavouring". Buontalenti is credited with inventing gelato alla crema, whipped cream or egg cream gelato, the precursor to modern Florentine gelato.

There isn't really a “secret” ingredient in gelato – the magic lies in the process. However, what sets gelato apart from its frozen dessert counterparts is the quality of the ingredients used and the low amount of air incorporated during the slow churning process.

The most popular gelato flavor in Italy is “fior di latte,” which is a simple vanilla flavor. It's made with milk, sugar, and vanilla extract, and it's loved by locals and tourists alike. Other popular flavors include chocolate, pistachio, and stracciatella, which is a vanilla flavor with chocolate chips.

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream. It starts out with a similar custard base as ice cream, but has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or no eggs at all). It is churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream.

Both ice cream and gelato are made with dairy products and both contain milk fat (called butterfat). Ice cream is made with a significantly higher ratio of cream to milk.

– Some of the most popular flavours of gelato include chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and pistachio.

Spumone (from spuma, lit. 'foam'; pl. : spumoni) is a molded gelato made with layers of different colors and flavors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts. Typically, it is of three flavors, with a fruit/nut layer between them. The ice cream layers are often mixed with whipped cream.

Neapolitan ice cream consists of three layers, each of a different colour and flavour (chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla), moulded into a block and cut into slices.

Because gelato is filled with less air than ice cream, it contains more actual ingredients per serving, hence it's often more expensive. Does gelato contain eggs? Some gelatos may contain egg or egg yolks, as traditional recipes were made using eggs, but today most gelato is entirely milk-based.

Which milk is best for gelato? ›

Gelato Facts #1: Milk

The best type of milk for the cream flavours of gelato is whole milk (3.5%) as opposed to heavy cream (35%). The milk helps the gelato obtain a creamy and smooth texture, but it also increases its resistance to melting so you can take your time to enjoy it on a hot day.

Gelato is churned at a much slower speed, which introduces less air into the base—think whipping cream by hand instead of with a stand mixer. That's why it tastes denser than ice cream—it is.

Another legend has it crafted out of necessity, when the palace didn't have enough cups for every guest to be served, so this gelato could be served on a plate. No matter how the story goes in the end the King bestows a title upon the gelato-maker and declares Tartufo to be the “king of gelato.”

Marco Venturino of I Giardini di Marzo gelato shop (located in the town of Varazze in the province of Savona, Liguria) was named the best gelato artisan of 2022, awarded three crowns for his Bocca di Rosa gelato. The maestro's winning frozen dessert is made with milk, white chocolate and a handmade rosewater base.

A real gelato is dense, not fluffy. It should get packed into a cup or a cone with a paddle-like tool, not scooped. The gelato should lie flat in the serving dish or in a stainless steel canister set into the countertop, sometimes with a lid on top so you can't even see it.

1) Look at the colors.

If so, it's likely that artificial coloring (and maybe flavoring) were used. In a gelateria that uses only natural ingredients, the colors will be more muted and brown. Banana is one of the best flavors for this test. It should be grey, not bright yellow.

Authentic Italian gelato is slowly churned so it contains less air and has a dense texture. This gives is a weightiness and a thick, creamy appearance. Making real gelato is time-consuming so fake gelato will generally be whipped up with artificial powders which make it fluffier and lighter.

The key feature that really makes the difference between Italian gelato and ice cream is the use of fresh raw materials. For the ice cream, in fact, milk powder is rehydrated on the spot. The Italian gelato, instead, is made with milk and fresh cream. It therefore represents a more genuine food.

The main difference between ice cream and gelato is their fat content. With only 4-9% fat to the usual 10-25% of ice cream, gelato usually is lighter and healthier. Per portion, however, the answer is clear, gelato is typically healthier than ice cream.