I have owned a Cuisinart ice cream, sorbet and frozen yogurt machine for at least 8 years now, and it’s only been until recently that I’ve actually put it to good use, or shall we say even used it at all. I always felt intimidated by this gadget for some reason. It’s taken a little “breaking in” on my part, but practice is beginning to make perfect.
Yesterday was my third time ever working with it. The first time, I tried to make vanilla ice cream. It tasted pretty good but was a little on the sweet side and just not firm enough – a pretty crucial detail! My second attempt was mint chocolate chip ice cream, one of Hubby’s favorites. That was a bomb – it was also a little too sweet and more like a slushy than ice cream. The worst part was that the chips all sunk to the bottom! I attribute both of these failures mainly to my freezer that wasn’t getting the ice cream maker base part cold enough. Our refrigerator has since been repaired and is in excellent working condition.
This time everything went perfectly! The end result was rich, creamy and nice and firm – i.e. very scoopable.
The little black specks that result from using fresh vanilla beans are a bit of eye candy that make me want to devour and enjoy it even more.
The basic gelato recipe I found on AllRecipes.com.
Here’s the recipe as I made it – since I changed a few things. The original recipe called for heavy cream, but I omitted that because I wanted it to be made totally from goats milk.
Vanilla Gelato
- 3 cups of goats milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/3-1/2 cup of raw sugar
- 1 whole vanilla bean sliced down the center and insides scraped (do not discard anything – you will use it all)
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan, pour the milk. 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 with the scraped insides of the vanilla bean and the vanilla bean shell.; 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.
I am excited about trying different flavors with this base recipe.
And the best part is that it hardly cost me anything to make as compared to a quality ice cream at the super market.
MMM. No ice cream maker for me. But I’m glad you’re enjoying yours!
I remember the mint chocolate chip, though tasty, the consistency of this last attempt looks great, good enough to enjoy.
Yum! this sound really good 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. I’m just waiting for the next wave of creativity to hit 🙂 This is a gorgeous photo, I love the tones. You have such a nice blog and fabulous photos!
Best,
Jess