Chocolate Cherry Almond Gelato With White Chocolate Stracciatella Recipes

CHOCOLATE CHERRY STRACCIATELLA GELATO RECIPE

Steps:

• In a deep saucepan, combine milk, heavy cream and 1/2 cup of the sugar.
• Split vanilla bean open and scrape down the seeds from the inside. Add vanilla bean and seeds to the pot.
• Heat over medium heat, heat until bubbles start to form, but do not let it boil.
• Remove from heat and steep for 15 minutes.
• In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and the remaining sugar.
• Slowly add 1/2 cup of the warm mixture to the yolks, whisking constantly. Add another 1/2 cup from the warm mixture and whisk to combine.
• Pour the egg yolk mixture back to the pan with hot liquid, remove the vanilla bean and heat over medium heat.
• Stir constantly with a spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Churn in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions. (Make sure you freeze the ice cream bowl for the time needed). It took mine gelato 15-20 minutes to churn.
• While the gelato is churning, melt chocolate over a double boiler. Place in a zip lock bag, close and cut the tip.
• With the ice cream maker still churning the gelato, slowly drizzle the chocolate inside.
• Transfer to a container and swirl the cherry preserves. Freeze overnight.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND-CHERRY BRITTLE

Steps:

• Grease a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil. Toss together the almonds, chocolate chips, orange zest and cherries in a small bowl, then spread them out in an even layer covering the entire baking sheet.
• In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring; instead, using a pastry brush dipped in water, brush the sides of the pan a few times to incorporate any sugar stuck to the sides of the pan. Continue cooking until the sugar syrup turns golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully pour the caramelized sugar over the nut mixture on the baking sheet. (Be careful not to move the baking sheet at this point; it will be very hot.) Let cool for at least 2 hours.
• Break the brittle into pieces and place in bags for hungry trick-or-treaters.

WHITE CHOCOLATE GELATO

Steps:

• Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer at medium speed until the consistency of a very grainy quick-bread batter, about 2 minutes; set aside.
• Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan set over medium heat until tiny bubbles pop up around the pan's inner rim; do not boil.
• Whisk about 1/3 of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture until smooth, then whisk this combined mixture back into the pan with the remaining hot milk mixture.
• Immediately turn down the heat to very low (if using an electric stove, move the pan to a second burner just now set on low).
• Cook slowly, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of very wet, loose cake batter and can coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the white chocolate, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any bits of scrambled eggs.
• Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.
• As you prepare your ice cream machine, place the white chocolate custard in the freezer to assure it is very cold, for no more than 10 minutes.
• Freeze the custard in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Serve at once--or transfer to a freezer container, seal tightly, and store in the freezer for no more than 3 days; soften at room temperature for up to 10 minutes before serving.

STRACCIATELLA GELATO

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice water and set a smaller bowl inside. Set a fine-mesh strainer in the smaller bowl. Whisk the cornstarch and 1 cup of the milk together in a medium bowl until the cornstarch dissolves. Combine the sugar, milk powder, corn syrup, salt, and the remaining 3 cups of milk in a medium (4-quart) saucepan over high heat. Whisk to break up and dissolve the milk powder and heat the milk until it just begins to bubble. Turn off the heat and gradually add the milk-cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly. Return the heat to high and bring the milk back to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium high and cook, stirring constantly with the whisk, until the gelato base thickens slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. It will get viscous but will not thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Pour the gelato base through the strainer into the bowl set over the ice water and set aside to cool to room temperature. Transfer the base to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least several hours and up to three days.
• Place a medium stainless steel bowl in the freezer. Remove the base from the refrigerator, pour it into a separate bowl, and stir in the cream. Pour the base into the bowl of an ice cream maker and spin it according to the machine instructions.
• Set a stainless steel bowl over a pot of water or fill the bottom of a double boiler with water, making sure the water doesn't touch the top vessel, and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Add the chocolate to the bowl or double boiler and let it melt, without stirring. Turn off the heat.
• Take the stainless steel bowl out of the refrigerator. Spoon the gelato out of the ice cream maker into the bowl. Use a spoon to drizzle one-quarter of the melted chocolate over the gelato in thin strands. Use a large metal spoon or metal spatula to break up the chocolate strands and fold them into the gelato. Drizzle another quarter of the chocolate over the gelato and cut it into the gelato in the same way. Continue until you've used all of the chocolate. Cover the bowl and return the gelato to the freezer to firm slightly before serving. Serve it within a few hours of spinning it, before it hardens.