Mexican Vanilla Gelato Recipes

ITALIAN CREMA ICE CREAM (GELATO ALLA CREMA)

Steps:

• Pour milk into a saucepan. Add 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar and egg yolks. Whisk thoroughly. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently with a spatula, until custard is steaming-hot and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and salt and remove from heat.
• Pour custard through a fine mesh strainer and refrigerate until completely chilled, 8 hours to overnight.
• Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions, about 20 minutes. Seal top with plastic wrap, cover with a lid, and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

GELATO

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cream. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.
• Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the gelato is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency.

VANILLA GELATO

Steps:

• Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until thick and pale lemony yellow but still gritty, about 2 minutes; set aside.
• Heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan until small bubbles pop up along the pan's inner rim; adjust the heat to keep the mixture very hot but do not boil.
• Whisk about 1/4 of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture until smooth, then whisk this combined mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk mixture.
• Immediately decrease heat to very low (if you are using an electric stove, move the pan to a second burner just now set on low).
• Cook slowly, stirring constantly, while the mixture thickens to the consistency of smooth, very wet cake batter and can coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any extraneous bits of cooked egg; stir in the vanilla and salt.
• Refrigerate until cold, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Just before you make the gelato, place the vanilla custard in the freezer, just to assure it is very cold, for no more than 10 minutes.
• Freeze the custard in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.
• Serve at once (will be soft) or transfer to a large freezer container and store in the freezer, tightly sealed, for up to 1 month; soften at room temperature for up to 10 minutes before serving.

MEXICAN VANILLA GELATO

Steps:

• Combine 2 1/2 cups milk, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to steam; watch it carefully and make sure it does not come to a boil.
• While the mixture heats, combine the remaining milk, milk powder, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, and stir until smooth and both of the powders are dissolved.
• Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
• Whisk the mixture until smooth, and simmer the mixture over very low heat, stirring constantly , for 2 minutes or until thickened.
• If mixture is lumpy, strain it through a sieve.
• Transfer the hot liquid to a storage container and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming.
• Refrigerate the mixture uncovered until it is completely chilled (below 40°).
• Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Serve immediately for a soft gelato, or transfer the mixture to an airtight storage container and freeze until hard.
• Allow the gelato to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving if frozen solid.

GELATO DI CREMA - VANILLA CREAM BASE FOR GELATO

Steps:

• In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until pale yellow and thickens up.
• Combine the whole milk, heavy cream and 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise in a saucepan. Heat the mixture just until it starts to bubble along the edges. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Remove from the heat.
• Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds with the tip if a small knife and add the seeds back into the milk mixture. Discard the vanilla bean shell.
• While whisking the egg mixture add in about a cup of the warm milk mixture and combine together. Then add in the rest of the egg mixture to the milk. Heat the mixture slowly to 175 to 180 degrees F. The custard should be thickened and coat the back of a wooden spoon. Do not allow the custard to simmer.
• Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
• You can transfer this custard into the ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions. This will make vanilla gelato, or you can make the following variations.
• Espresso: add 1/2 cup of chilled espresso coffee into the custard.
• Chocolate: add 3 ounces melted bittersweet chocolate into the warm custard before chilling.
• Pistachio or hazelnuts: In a blender add 6 ounces shelled pistachios with the heavy cream and puree before adding into the saucepan.
• Amaretto: Stir in 1/2 cup of crushed amaretto cookies into the milk before heating and add 1-ounce amaretto liqueur into the finished chilled custard before freezing.

GELATO-STYLE VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup milk and the cornstarch in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth. Combine the remaining 2 cups milk, the heavy cream, sugar and salt in a medium high-sided saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until steaming, 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
• Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 5 minutes (it will foam up a bit). Boil, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.
• Pour the mixture into a medium heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until the mixture stops steaming, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate until cold, 2 to 3 hours.
• Stir the mixture, then strain it if it looks lumpy. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions until the consistency of soft serve. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

VANILLA GELATO

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat milk and vanilla bean and scrapings. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and remove from heat. Steep for 30 minutes.
• Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, return milk to a simmer.
• Remove vanilla bean. Add half the milk to egg-yolk mixture and whisk until blended. Stir into remaining milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon.
• Remove from heat and immediately stir in cream. Pass mixture through a strainer into a medium bowl set over an ice bath to chill. Stir in vanilla extract, then freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Store in a plastic container.