Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I've been down here in the land of trolls with P.A.G, Sprout, and the grandkids since last Tuesday. I've made a couple of requests already, and have a few more to make. Yesterday evening, I made two gellato bases, vanilla, and orange-cream. I'd made various ice cream flavors in the past and so wasn't too worried about making the orange-cream flavor, though It's something that I'd never made, and had no recipe for. Both bases came out silky smooth. I made the vanilla ice cream today and it's the best that I've ever made. Since the orange-cream was made with virtually the same recipe, but with the ingredients to make in orange-cream flavored, I expect it to be as good. The taste of the vanilla that I gave (a tsp. per person) to DW, P.A.G. and myself was extremely satisfying. The vanilla flavor was rich and just plain yummy. But what made it the best that I'd ever made was the texture. It's very creamy and smooth, with no discernible ice crystals at all. It's as good as the best commercial ice creams I've tried.
I'm not telling you this to puff myself up, but to get you to give this recipe a try. Oh, one more thing, this recipe is a hybrid of Italian, and Sicilian gellatto recipes. From what I've read, in most of Europe, and in Italy, egg yolk is used to bind with the water in the base, and control the ice crystal formation. In Sicily, starch is used for the same purpose. In both recipes, the base is cooked, and the yolk, or starch thickens the mixture.
If you want to try the original Sicilian recipe, you can choose from three starches, corn starch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot. The author of the recipe I looked at preferred arrowroot because it creates a somewhat slimy starch when used with dairy products, and she liked that. Of course in the gellato, the sliminess goes away, but the starch gives the finished product a distinct sheen.
Me, I'm not fond of slimy. Gelled, as in aspic, I can handle quite well. But something with the texture of, excuse the reference please, snot, I just can deal with it. So I used cornstarch. Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
1/2 cup cane sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tsp. cornstarch.
Combine the milk, cream, and sugar in a 2 quart saucepan and heat over medium high while stirring until the mixture is steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat. Mix the cornstarch with a couple tbs. of milk to make a slurry. In a separate bowl, beat the yolks until smooth. Remove a cup-full of the hot milk/cream mixture and slowly whisk into the yolks. Pour both the yolks and slurry back into the pan and place onto the heat. Stir while heating until the mixture just begins boiling and thickens. Remove from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a container. Put the lid on the container and refrigerate for at least three hours, preferably overnight. When you're ready, pour into your ice cream maker, using the low setting, and process for 35 minutes. Remove to a suitable container and place in the freezer, though this is absolutely at its best straight from the ice cream maker.
For the Orange-Cream flavor, I was going to steep orange zest in the hot milk and cream before I added the thickeners. DW didn't like that idea even though the zest would be strained out. She was afraid the zest would make it bitter. So instead, I used three tsp. of pure orange extract, and 2 tbs. Orange Tang product. I din't use orange juice as the acid would have curdled the milk. This was easier than having to steep orange zest, as I could add the extract and Tang directly into the heating mixture, and so, save some time. The flavor is very good, and the Tang gave just the right color.
I think the vanilla would have been better if I'd had actual vanilla pods, but it's still quite tasty. I think my kids and grandkids will be impressed.
Try the hybrid recipe and see how your next batch of homemade ice cream turns out.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
I'm not telling you this to puff myself up, but to get you to give this recipe a try. Oh, one more thing, this recipe is a hybrid of Italian, and Sicilian gellatto recipes. From what I've read, in most of Europe, and in Italy, egg yolk is used to bind with the water in the base, and control the ice crystal formation. In Sicily, starch is used for the same purpose. In both recipes, the base is cooked, and the yolk, or starch thickens the mixture.
If you want to try the original Sicilian recipe, you can choose from three starches, corn starch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot. The author of the recipe I looked at preferred arrowroot because it creates a somewhat slimy starch when used with dairy products, and she liked that. Of course in the gellato, the sliminess goes away, but the starch gives the finished product a distinct sheen.
Me, I'm not fond of slimy. Gelled, as in aspic, I can handle quite well. But something with the texture of, excuse the reference please, snot, I just can deal with it. So I used cornstarch. Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
1/2 cup cane sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tsp. cornstarch.
Combine the milk, cream, and sugar in a 2 quart saucepan and heat over medium high while stirring until the mixture is steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat. Mix the cornstarch with a couple tbs. of milk to make a slurry. In a separate bowl, beat the yolks until smooth. Remove a cup-full of the hot milk/cream mixture and slowly whisk into the yolks. Pour both the yolks and slurry back into the pan and place onto the heat. Stir while heating until the mixture just begins boiling and thickens. Remove from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a container. Put the lid on the container and refrigerate for at least three hours, preferably overnight. When you're ready, pour into your ice cream maker, using the low setting, and process for 35 minutes. Remove to a suitable container and place in the freezer, though this is absolutely at its best straight from the ice cream maker.
For the Orange-Cream flavor, I was going to steep orange zest in the hot milk and cream before I added the thickeners. DW didn't like that idea even though the zest would be strained out. She was afraid the zest would make it bitter. So instead, I used three tsp. of pure orange extract, and 2 tbs. Orange Tang product. I din't use orange juice as the acid would have curdled the milk. This was easier than having to steep orange zest, as I could add the extract and Tang directly into the heating mixture, and so, save some time. The flavor is very good, and the Tang gave just the right color.
I think the vanilla would have been better if I'd had actual vanilla pods, but it's still quite tasty. I think my kids and grandkids will be impressed.
Try the hybrid recipe and see how your next batch of homemade ice cream turns out.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
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