Gelato

1. Boil the milk, cream, vanilla pod or lemon zest and half of the sugar into in a saucepan.
2. As the bubbles begin to appear, remove the saucepan from the stove immediately. Now let it cool.
3. Add the cooled milk, egg yolks and half of the remaining sugar into the electrical mixture. The milk needn’t be room temperature but it shouldn’t be hot either otherwise it will cook the eggs.
4. Beat the mixture until thick and creamy. Make sure egg yolks and sugar are well-combined.
5. Transfer the mixture into the saucepan on medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly until the eggs thickens. Make sure that there aren’t any lumps.
6. As the mixture begins to thicken, turn the heat to low. Make sure the mixture never reaches to the boiling point. If it does, then add a little more milk or cream.
7. Once the mixture thickens, remove it from the heat. Pour it into a medium size bowl.
8. Refrigerate the mixture to cool for two to three hours. When chilled the batter would have thickened even more.
9. Add the batter into an ice cream maker. Churn the batter for 20 to 30 minutes until soft and smooth.
10. Transfer it into a bowl. Freeze it for 15 to 20 minutes for firm texture.
11. Serve gelato with berries or strawberries. It can also be served with toppings like cocoa powder or melted chocolate.

Trivia

• In Italian, the word gelato means “frozen” or “to freeze”.
• Gelato originated in the Northern Italy.
• Gelato has been around the 15^th century but it gained popularity in the 1920 to 1930s.
• Gelato was first invented by a Florentine – Bernardo Buotalenti. He presented his recipe to Catherine de’ Medici (the wife of King Henry II) who then brought it to France when she became Queen Consort.

Gelato has lesser air content which means it melts in the mouth faster than an ice-cream.