Sour Cherry Gelato

As a confessed ice cream addict, it's no surprise that I also made it my job to sample my fair share of gelatos (er, gelati) on my trip through Italy in 2010.  While being sure to sample a wide variety of flavors--from banana, to coconut, to fig and tiramisu--surprisingly, my favorite was sour cherry, er amerena.

I say surprisingly because I probably never would have knowingly chosen a scoop of sour cherry, and most likely did so as a result of my generally non-existent Italian tourist language skills. But luckily for me this turned out to be an awesome mistake, and not only is sour cherry delicious on its own, but was also the perfect complement to any other flavor I paired it with.

After the success of last month's Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk ice cream, I thought revisiting this Italian treat would be a great way to use the rest of the hand-picked sour cherries I'd actually had the forethought to freeze back in June. (score!)

I'm still a little skeptical that one can make gelato at home; although gelato is typically made with a higher milk-to-cream ration that ice cream, the other key difference is that it's churned at a lower speed, and thus has less air incorporated, giving it that dense and creamy texture you just don't get with ice cream. So, while this is pretty much impossible with a home ice cream machine, I'm still calling it gelato.

Buon Appetito!

Gelato Root Beer Float!

A couple of notes: In my Jeni's ice cream cookbook, I remembered her mentioning that using chopped pieces of fruit will often simply result in frozen chunks of fruit...unfortunately, I remembered this as I was chewing frozen pieces of cherry in my gelato. If you want to avoid this but still have some extra fruit flavor and color, you may want to puree the reserved cherries and mix them in after churning, rather than adding chopped pieces. Also, I'm usually super lazy when it comes to vanilla, but this is one recipe where using an actual vanilla bean rather than extract really adds a lot--and you know what I'm going to say here--Get them at World Market on the cheap!!

Sour Cherry Gelato
     from NPR

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean, split
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup superfine sugar
Pinch of salt
4 1/2 packed cups pitted sour cherries, also known as pie cherries, cut in half
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1. Place the milk and heavy cream into a large saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and add the pod to the pan as well. Bring the milk and cream just to a boil but take care not to let the mixture boil over. Remove the pan from the heat.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg yolks with the superfine sugar and salt until light and thick. Whisk a small ladleful of the hot milk and cream into the eggs, whisking quickly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Add 4 or 5 more ladlefuls of the milk mixture, one at a time, whisking all the while. Pour the egg-milk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cream, and whisk to combine thoroughly. Cook the custard on medium-low to medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 20 minutes or until it is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. Do not let the custard boil. Remove from heat, and pour the custard into a heatproof bowl. Remove and discard the vanilla bean pod. Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure to press the wrap right onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

3. Place 3 cups of the cherries and the granulated sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring the cherries to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the sugar has melted and the cherries are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Pass the cooked cherries through a food mill fitted with the disk with the smallest holes. If you don't have a food mill, puree the cherries in a food processor or blender, then strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve and discard the solids. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of liquid. Put the liquid in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, until it is slightly thickened and reduced to about 1 cup. Remove the cherry syrup from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

4. Stir the cherry syrup into the cold custard and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled.

5. Freeze the cherry custard in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is just about done, mix in the remaining 1 1/2 cups cherries. Transfer the ice cream to a tightly lidded container and freeze until hard.

Tweet

Gelato Joy

Howdy, strangers!  I know, I know. I've been completely MIA for the last several weeks while getting my Stateside and globe-trotting life back in order.  I know, I know. This post is still not the Brandied Dried Fig and Vanilla Souffle I promised you before discovering what is apparently the Great Ramekin Shortage of 2010. (Don't worry, the souffle is coming!)  Though I may have been missing for a few weeks, it was with the best of intentions as I can now bring you tales of gelato, tiramisu and panna cotta straight from the source--Italia.  During my recent time in Venice, Florence and Rome I made it my mission to sample all of these Italian specialties and report back.  Tough job, I know.  In this first installment I bring you a taste of the endless joys of gelato.

I will be the first to tell you that ice cream is my favorite food.  Specifically, Graeter's Mocha Chip. Though when it comes to flavors, I think the reason I'm partial to ice cream is one of the same reasons I love cupcakes--the endless possibilities of flavor infusions.  So, though I've enjoyed quite a few cones in my day, admittedly I would have been at a loss to tell you the difference between ice cream and its exotic Italian cousin, gelato. Most of what I could relate came secondhand from friends who had been to Italy and would recite without fail that gelato found in the States was "never the same" as the local stuff.  With this in mind, I set out on my first Italian sojourn determined to try gelatos from North to South, from the reputed "best" to those sold in the heart of tourist town.

As you can imagine, it was a tough job.

My first taste of gelato was at the most renowned shop in Venice, Gelateria Nico.  Located in Dosoduro near the Accademia and Peggy Guggenheim collections, this is a convenient stop after a long morning of museum hopping.  I tried the Tiramisu and, in addition to being put off that you have to order something other than gelato if you want to sit at a table, I found the consistency to be less creamy than most and more similar to the style of ice cream we find in the States.  Consistency is one of the main differences you'll find between ice cream and gelato due to several factors including a lower butterfat and sugar content in gelato (fewer calories!!) and a mixing process that doesn't incorporate air the way ice cream does, producing a gelato that is much more dense.

In Florence I have to admit that my favorite gelato came from an essentially no-name stand located off one of the more touristy piazzas.  Luckily when traveling I stick to my premise of getting off the beaten track and not sticking too heavily to tour guides.  Particularly with something as subjective as cuisine, more often than not I've found guidebook restaurant suggestions to be overrated, and that food does not taste better just because it's famous. (Your thoughts?)  At this stand I picked up a generous scoop of Coconut and was surprised to find flakes of toasted coconut throughout the scoop and not just sprinkled on top, the flavor was rich and the texture perfectly balanced.

In an unfortunate instance of trying out the "best" gelato in Florence, I sought out Il Vivoli.  Don't.  Not only is the gelato so forgettable that I can't even remember what flavor I had, but this was also my only experience with poor customer service throughout 2 weeks in Italy.  Not only was I blatantly ignored by the woman at the counter despite being the only customer, another woman at the cash register proceeded to look past me and make phone calls while I tried to pay.  Um, hello? Am I back in France?

Another high point on my gelateria tour was Grom.  Not only does Grom have a New York location--bonus!--but they pride themselves on an artisanal style of gelato production, sourcing the best ingredients from around the world and taking many from their own 20-acre organic farm in Northern Italy.  I had the Fig semifreddo (kind of like sorbet) and it was To Die. Amahzing.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to Giolitti--another "best of" in Rome.  In this case, the stop was totally worth it, if nothing else for the massive number of flavor choices and the servers in white button-down coats. It's like stepping into an old-timey ice cream parlor.  I got a double scoop of my favorite Amarena (black cherry) and banana, and it was amahzing (until I spilled half of it trying to unlock the dungeon-like door to my 15th century apartment building...).  This is one you'll definitely want to hit in off hours though to avoid the crowds. 

Tweet