Gelato, the king of summer, is a delicacy of Italian birth. Although it has very ancient origins, to date every gelataio puts his ingenuity and inventiveness to create ever new tastes. The great classics such as chocolate, pistachio and fiordilatte (cream) ice creams are accompanied by exotic flavors. So you can find ice creams with cuttlefish ink, with hints of wine, beer or rose petals. The imagination has no limits… After all it is true that exists also the lasagna gelato flavor… As often happens, everyone is ready to grab the credit, but in this case the first form of ice cream is very old.

History of gelato

The first ice cream cup, found in a 2nd dynasty Egyptian tomb, had two silver cups—one for snow or crushed ice, the other for cooked fruit. Ancient Romans chopped and sweetened ice with honey before selling it. In the first millennium, Arabs made cold drinks with cherries, quinces, and pomegranates, leading to the word “sorbet” from the Arabic “sharab” (sip, drink). Ice cream was perfected in Renaissance Florence. The Medici family’s competition for original dishes was won by Ruggeri with a mixture of water, sugar, and fruit, similar to granita. Caterina de’ Medici took Ruggeri to France when she married the Duke of Orleans.

Architect Bernardo Buontalenti created a cold cream of milk, honey, egg yolk, and citrus for a 1559 party. He also built a churning machine. This recipe is the basis of Florentine cream or Buontalenti ice cream. In Sicily, snow was stored in pits and sold in summer. Sicilian cook Francesco Procopio de’ Coltelli opened Café Procope in Paris, innovating “frozen waters” with sugar and salt for faster cooling. His menu included lemon and orange ice cream and strawberry sorbet, attracting intellectuals like Voltaire, George Sand, Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Napoleon, who once pledged his hat to pay for ice cream.

Gelato: from the Seventeenth century to today

The ingredients of gelato

A good gelato balances body, spreadability, chewiness, and sweetness, without being too cold to numb the taste buds. Achieving this involves precise mathematical calculations to balance the ingredients.

Key ingredients include:

• Sugars: Lower freezing temperature and sweeten the mixture. Various types have unique properties:
  • Sucrose/Granulated Sugar: Basic sweetener with a power of 100
  • Dextrose: Powder form with a sweetening power of 75, replaces 10-20% sucrose, enhances flavors, and makes ice cream softer
  • Invert Sugar: Liquid form with a sweetening power of 130, replaces 10-20% sucrose, stabilizes structure, prevents oxidation, and retains softness, but lowers freezing point
• Fats: Provide body, softness, and creaminess. Found in milk and cream with 35% fat
• Milk: Can be condensed or powered, with powdered being more common due to cost and shelf life
• Emulsifiers and Stabilizers: Such as carob seed flour, improve body, texture, and stability
• Other Ingredients: Eggs, aromas, water, and air

Ice cream makers calculate POD (sweetness) and CAP (ideal serving temperature) based on these ingredients. Yellow (egg-based), white (milk-based), and fruit-based make up the basic gelato bases.

Gelato: the production phases

Ice cream production involves four key phases. First, in the mixing phase, producers combine liquids, sugars, fats, and stabilizers in a pasteurizer. Initially, they mix all the liquids cold, then warm them up. Once the mixture reaches 40°C, they add the powders, ensuring a smooth and consistent blend.

Next, during the pasteurization phase, the process destroys most pathogens in the mixture. After pasteurization, the mixture is left to mature and relax for 12 hours. This maturation process is crucial for developing the final texture and flavor of the ice cream.

Following this, during the incorporation phase, the mixture is placed in a batch freezer. This machine simultaneously freezes the mixture and incorporates air. Incorporating air is essential as it increases the volume of the ice cream, creating a light and voluminous texture known as overrun. The ideal overrun for ice cream is between 20% and 45%, which ensures a creamy and airy product.

Finally, the last phase involves lowering the temperature. When extracted from the batch freezer, the ice cream has a temperature of around -6/-8°C. To prevent it from collapsing, it undergoes further cooling in a blast chiller for about ten minutes. This process stabilizes the ice cream in the bowl, forming an icy crust that protects the structure and the incorporated air. After this, the ice cream is ready to be placed in the display case. For optimal spreadability and structure, the ice cream should be stored at -13/-16°C. In contrast, home freezers at -18°C make ice cream very hard because it isn’t balanced for such low temperatures.

Gelato: the recipes

White Base

370 gr of milk

250 gr of cream

130 g granulated sugar

20 gr dextrose

100 gr condensed milk

1 g carob seed flour

First of all, mix the powder ingredients, sugar, milk powder, dextrose and carob seed flour. Combine the milk and the cream, put them on the fire to heat up to a slight boil, and pour over the ingredients in the powder, stirring with a whisk, until you have a homogeneous mixture without lumps. Put everything back on the heat, and bring to a temperature of 85°C (temperature high pasteurization). Turn off the heat and emulsify.

Yellow base

210 gr of Milk

70 gr of cream

20 gr of yolks

250 gr of sugar

50 gr of Dextrose

1 gr carob seed Flour

The first thing to do is to beat the egg yolks with the two types of sugar until the mixture is creamy and light. Pour gradually the milk and the cream, boiling the mixture, stirring with a whisk and being careful not to create too much foam. Put the mixture on the fire at a moderate heat, stirring constantly with a spatula. Bring the mixture to a temperature of 80 – 85 °C, remove from the fire and emulsify.

Fruit sorbet or sherbet

First, mix together the powders: 220g of water, 80g of sucrose, 60g of dextrose, juice of 1 lemon, 350g of fruit, and 1g of carob seed flour. Next, prepare the syrup by heating the water with the powders. Subsequently, heat the syrup for 2-3 minutes at 80°C to activate the carob seed flour. Afterward, soak the lemon peel (if present among the ingredients) for 5 minutes. Then, remove the peel from the syrup and blend the syrup with the fruit. Finally, let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for 6 to 12 hours.

(fonte immagine: Freepik)