Sunday 28 June 2015

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.


Photobucket

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.

32 comments:

  1. What? Gelato more dense compared to normal ice cream? No leh, the ones I've had was soft and light. Maybe not fluffy because yes, there's no cream and less air in it, but it should not feel dense at all leh... They say gelato is the healthier alternative to ice cream, and you know how people nowadays react to things claimed to be healthier, so of course it is more expensive >.<

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    1. I have had the one at the Mamamia Gelato outlet at Tesco Mutiara Damansara very recently and their gelato is very much like regular ice cream. I wonder if it is actually gelato or regular ice cream but they call it gelato since it sounds more glamorous? But the ones I had earlier were more dense and sticky, hence I did not quite appreciate it. But maybe the method of preparation has been tweaked and it is not so dense. But whatever, gelato or ice cream, now I like them both :)

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  2. From the link, it seems gelato is more dense and intense...that's probably why you got such an intense flavour. I don't think I've had gelato before, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Now that you've made gelato, maybe you can try making ice cream next! ;)

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    1. Yes, I am very eager to make ice cream! If you have the chance, you can try gelato and let us know what you think :)

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  3. Wow, you level up already! From baking great cakes to making your own gelato. Can open cafe! :D

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    1. hah..hah.. I am not that good, Mun! For own consumption it is OK :)

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  4. Okay, I don't know what you are talking about. These pictures make me want to reach through my computer screen and eat all the gelato!! This looks amazing!

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    1. Cathleen, it requires no understanding hah..hah..just make and eat!

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  5. Wahhhhhh!!!! You made your own??? Respect!!! Double wahhhhhhhh!!!! Got special mention some more, my big name! Terror lah! Muahahahaha!!!!!

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    1. hee..hee..hee...thanks to you I made gelato! It's not difficult at all. And so nice to eat especially in this very hot weather.

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  6. Your gelato looks very chocolatey and creamy, yummzzz.. I can finish the whole tub.. But I won't be making it.. I would just buy it from Aeon, there's a stall selling gelato, but very expensive.. One scoop RM6+ (I think).. But lots of flavours.. My favourite is the dragon fruit and soursop one.. Very refreshing taste.. If I want shortcut, maybe I'll just freeze some bananas, then blend it with Nutella, then I have the same thing in your picture, healthy banana "ice cream".. Learnt this from Food Network, freeze bananas only then blend, texture like ice cream wer...

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    1. Louiz, very easy to make wor! I am making some more with other flavors soon. Enjoyed to the max!

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  7. GELATO!!! I don't actually care whether it is ice-cream or gelato, but just like the Minions, when they see one, they go crazy and run after the ice-cream truck yelling Gelato repeatedly.. hahaha!! that's one of the clips I watched on YouTube.. :D

    my first gelato was when I was in Italy, to be exact it was Sorrento (if I'm not mistaken), it was hot hot summer and I tried my very first gelato and it was the lemon season and so lemon gelato it was!! awww, so refreshing so lemony and so make-me-dying-for-another-one!!! haha..

    thanks for sharing about the differences between I-scream (my way of saying ice-cream) and gelato.. so one is more cream, one is more milk, and the one no milk no cream?? haha, sorbet?? but really, you know I makan only la~~ :p

    now look at your chocolate gelato!! aiyoyo, really kaw kaw leh though by just looking at it, I cannot tell its I-scream or gelato or sorbet or even just frozen Milo!! haha.. so you had all 4 cups of those?? it surely is refreshing and cooling for the hot weather lah.. I wonder if you will make more and keep them, when you feel hot at night and can't sleep, get down to the kitchen, eat a cup of this, and go back to sleep, haha!! I did this before, it helps!!! xD

    oooh saw your sister's comment, great idea to add Nutella and banana and nuts!! that certainly is an enriched version, and sure sedap menjilat jari dan sudu~~

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    1. Look out for my lemon gelato...akan datang...hee..hee..hee... But really, this is so easy to make. Just that without the ice cream maker, have to manually kacau-kacau every few hours. After that can just enjoy my own homemade gelato. This one I think SK pun boleh buat!

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  8. Hi Phong Hong,
    Nice to know the difference between gelato and ice-cream! Thanks for sharing. But I hardly notice the difference though. .. hee ... hee! Oh yeah you could churn your delicious ice-cream or gelato to enjoy :D. How nice. I'm lazy ... just buy a few tubs ... mostly for my big kids >~<.

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    1. Karen, actually nowadays, I also feel that the gelato and ice cream have similar texture. Who knows one day I got chance to go to Italy and eat the authentic Italian gelato. I am curious lah to see if it is the same as the gelato we get over here.

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  9. Hi Phong Hong, another brave venture in your kitchen. Looking forward to more see gelato from you, 'just looking, hehehe!'. Like Karen, I think I'll just buy or enjoy being served with one.

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    1. Kimmy, I was glad that I tried it. Not difficult at all and the best part is that I can control what goes into the gelato. I am thinking of making lemon ice cream next!

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  10. My son loves to make them but Mommy usually is lazy because she had to do the cleaning up. LOL

    Yours sure looks yummy. :)

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    1. But after the cleaning up, mummy gets to eat ice cream too rite? hee..hee..

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  11. It is so sinfully delicious looking to me. Well done Phong Hong. I am not greedy, I need want a bite of it to quench my desire. lol!

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    1. Hi Yannie! No worries, Yannie can eat and then work it off at the gym :)

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  12. Very informative post, thank you so much for sharing. :) It looks delicious.

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  13. I love to eat all types of ice cream no matter if Gelato, Gila-to or Jilat-to!! Yumms!!!

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    1. hee..hee..hee... How about durian gelato? hmmm...

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  14. hello after my holiday break:)
    I did not know that there is any difference between those two, I only thought that geleato is an Italian name of ice-creams:)

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    1. Hello Ola! That's what I thought too until I read about the difference :)

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  15. Hi Phong Hong,

    Based on the colour of your chocolate gelato, it does look intensively chocolaty. I'm happy that you have discovered the beauty of making your own ice cream. I started doing this a few years ago and it is no turning back....

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe! I am glad that I made this ice cream and I will be making more!

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