The Best and Easiest Strawberry Gelato Recipe You'll ever Make! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to 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.

In a blender combine the strawberries, sugar and whole milk and puree until smooth. Add in the heavy cream and mix just enough to combine (you do not want to whip the cream). Add in the lemon juice. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Gelato: Dense and Intense

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.

Like ice cream, gelato uses milk, cream, and sugar, but it differs in proportions. Gelato uses less cream and more milk than ice cream and typically contains no egg yolks or eggs at all. Gelato is served slightly warmer than American ice cream and is also churned at a slower rate, introducing less air into the product.

High quality gelato is made with all-natural, seasonal ingredients and little to no artificial coloring. Because of this the colors will not be vibrant, but rather dull. For example, pistacchio should never be bright green like you might imagine, but brownish.

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.

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.

Gelato also contains less air than American ice cream — that helps keep it dense, fluid and creamy.

Egg yolks, beside adding the flavor and color to your recipe, are also a natural emulsifier (they help binding water & fat molecules to obtain a smooth and creamy texture) and help incorporate more air in your gelato.

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.

How do you increase overrun in gelato? ›

In order to obtain an ice cream with high overrun and hom*ogeneous air cell distribution, it was necessary to apply higher shear, so the dasher speed in the continuous freezer was increased. Additionally, the cylinder pressure was increased to facilitate finer air cell distribution.

Just like eggs and other stabilisers, corn starch will soak up water and prevent crystallisation, improving texture and body of the ice cream. Since corn starch is quite a neutral stabiliser, any flavours used tend to come through very clearly.

Gelato has at least egg yolks in it if not whole eggs and they make it smoother/prevent tiny ice crystals that make regular ice cream a little less smooth.

The slower, more manual and labour-intensive process of making gelato increases production costs, affecting its price. Denser with less air, offering more product by weight in each serving. Lighter and fluffier due to higher air content, resulting in less actual product by weight.

Gelato has a lower milk fat content than ice cream, usually 4 to 9%, yielding a softer, denser texture and smaller ice crystals. That's a result of the base, which typically includes less cream and more milk, as well as a slower churning process that introduces less air into the final product.

Because there's less butterfat coating your palate, gelato's flavors tend to taste more intense. Gelato also contains less air than American ice cream — that helps keep it dense, fluid and creamy.

Authentic Italian Gelato is a frozen creamy dessert made with milk, heavy cream and sugar. With or without eggs (depending on the taste), you can make dense creamy gelato at home, following a slow freezing/creaming process, usually with the help of an ice cream maker.