Chocolate Gelato

I am very sorry, I could not get nice shots of my maiden Gelato. And I have to thank Mr Arthur Wee for providing the link to read and learn the difference between gelato and ice cream. 

Apparently gelato has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and is therefore more dense than ice cream. You can read more at the above link.

When I first tasted gelato (at an outlet at 1-Utama many years ago), the impression that I got was that it was lacking in creaminess. I guess at the time, my palate was not so sophisticated (it still isn't) and I was not very impressed. I did not see what was so great about gelato. It didn't taste like ice-cream! (huh???) And some more, so expensive!

The texture of gelato reminded me of the Turkish ice cream that was sold at the old Carrefour in Subang Jaya. I remember the Turkish proprietor calling out "Ice cream! Ice Cream! Very nice ice cream!" and he used a very long metal implement (I don't know what to call it) to scoop the ice cream. I tried it once and was not impressed by the "nice ice cream" because it tasted funny due to the lack of creamy texture associated with ice cream.

I've always put off attempts at making ice cream because I thought that it was tedious without an ice cream maker. I read that without an ice cream maker, you had to stir/churn the ice cream after freezing it every hour for two or three times. Ah! I don't have time for that. 

But I did make time last Saturday all because I wanted to use up 1/2 cup of cream. But I ended up buying 1 liter of full cream milk and now I have 1/2 liter leftover. It never ends does it? hee..hee..

OK, I discovered that it is not that difficult at all to make ice cream/gelato. Unless if you want to make extra stuff to mix into the gelato like salted caramel pecans. I did away with those extras and focused on the basic.

All I had to do was mix sugar, cornflour, salt and milk in a saucepan. This mixture is brought to a boil, the heat reduced to medium and cooked for a minute. This is then removed from the heat and chocolate is added and stirred until smooth before adding cream. 

Chill in the fridge for 1 hour and because I do not have an ice cream maker, I used my stand mixer to churn the mixture. Then I put it in the freezer for an hour, take it out to churn and repeat two more times. Then I transferred the mixture into a plastic container and kept it in the freezer overnight. 

The next day, I had a taste. Wow! Very intense! I was very pleased and very excited at the possibility of making my own ice cream from now on. In this hot weather, it was simply not possible to present the gelato nicely as it was melting all over the place!

The gelato in my freezer did not last very long. After all,  the recipe made only 4 cups, so please don't give me that funny look hee..hee... I am all set to make more gelato next weekend. Yeah!

Chocolate Gelato

Recipe source : Adapted from the kitchn

Notes :

1. I am making this without an ice cream maker

2. My method may not be super accurate/correct as this is my maiden attempt.

Ingredients :

- 2 cups full cream milk

- 1/2 cup sugar (my chocolate was quite sweet and I should be able to reduce the amount of sugar, maybe to 1/4 cup)

- 2 tbsp cornflour

- pinch of salt

- 180g dark chocolate, broken into smaller pieces

- 1/2 cup cream

Method :

1. Mix milk, sugar, cornflour and salt in a saucepan.

2. Bring mixture to a boil and then lower the heat to medium.

3. Continue to cook for one more minute.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.

5. Add cream and stir to mix evenly.

6. When the mixture is cool enough, put it in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.

7. Take the mixture out and using a stand mixer, beat the mixture at high speed for about 5 minutes.

8. Put the mixture into the freeze for about 1 hour.

9. Take the mixture out and beat the mixture again for about 5 minutes.

10. Return to the freezer and repeat another 2 times.

11. Transfer mixture into an air tight container and store in the freezer until ready to eat.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe.