The Art of Making Gelato: 50 Flavors to Make at Home

My first experience with gelato was in Florence in October 2001 and it was a great experience, although I realize today that there were probably better choices in the city than where we happened to come across that day. We've bought gelato at stores several times and enjoyed it but nothing like what I remember from that first experience. Costco has had some pretty good pistachio gelato imported from Italy but I haven't seen it for a while. Of course, none of that can be as fresh as what we can make at home.Our family used to make home made ice cream regularly in the summers 40+ years ago but dealing with ice and rock salt isn't much fun after a while so I recently purchased a Whynter ice cream maker Whynter ICM-200LS Stainless Steel Ice Cream Maker, 2.1-Quart, Silver and experimented with a couple of recipes. I grow some of my own fruits on my farm and garden and was experimenting some and was somewhat happy but thought I should be able to get better results. This book was recommended by Amazon at the time of my purchase of the ice cream maker so I checked out the reviews and bought it. I read some of the pages in Amazon's preview and the story of the author's journey to achieving gelato perfection was very inspiring. It's great to find someone who enjoys what they are doing with such passion. Two days later the book arrived and I made a cinnamon gelato a few hours later. I have a large walk-in cooler so I've been able to cool down my batches pretty quickly and enjoy my work pretty fast (the book recommends cooling cooked recipes for 3-4 hours before freezing). I would never have thought of a cinnamon flavored gelato myself but I had the ingredients on hand and was very pleased with the results. Great creamy/smooth/thick texture. Note: I suggest you purchase some tapioca flour/starch at the same time as ordering this book if you don't already have it on hand.One of the fruits I grow on my farm is pomegranates and I wanted to try making a pomegranate sorbetto or gelato. I wasn't sure what recipe to adapt so I wrote Morgan and she kindly replied the following day. I used the lemon sorbetto recipe, substituting freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice for the lemon juice. The results were excellent (see photo). I grow many varieties of pomegranates and will experiment with another variety soon.The mint gelato I tried next was a bit too strong for everyone in our household. I may try it again with another brand of extract (I used Schilling which is all that was available at the store in our small town). Lesson learned from this was to taste the mix and gradually add the extract if you're unsure.A semi-exotic fruit I grow in my garden, white sapote, was used for a sorbet adapting the kiwi recipe with the addition of 8 grams of vanilla extract and the results were fantastic. In my opinion, this is a great vanilla ice cream substitute for anyone but especially someone who is lactose intolerant.How often have you had some bananas that were ripening faster than you are able to eat them? Banana bread is fine, but I've got this new book and machine and banana sorbet was my choice tonight! I had less fruit than called for in the recipe but it was easy to scale everything down to the appropriate amounts since everything is measured in grams. The results were again excellent. I've made 7 batches of gelato or sorbetto after having the book for just 6 days. I'm obsessed and enjoying it very much!I suggest if you have a lot of fruits on hand and anticipate making a lot of sorbetto that you make a much larger batch of sorbetto syrup (2 or 3 times) because once you have this on hand in the refrigerator it is very quick to turn your favorite fruits into sorbetto.One reviewer wrote negative comments about having to deal with recipes that measured everything in grams. I already had an Ozeri scale but had never used it before for cooking, etc. and was unsure if this would be a hassle or not. I was very surprised at how much easier it is to measure ingredients this way! Of course, it's more accurate/precise but it is also much faster. No measuring cups, spoons, etc. I put a bowl on the scale, tared it, poured in the appropriate amount of sugar or whatever, then poured that into my mixing bowl, measured the next ingredient, etc. Very fast. Morgan offers a shortcut tip of putting your mixing bowl on the scale and taring it after adding each ingredient, making it even faster, although she warns that caution is needed to make sure you don't pour in too much of an ingredient as it may be difficult to remove.I learned a trick from a friend who makes more typical ice creams and purchased 5.5 ounce plastic souffle cups and lids (bought at Smart and Final for a lot less than similar products here at Amazon are sold for) and spoon my finished product into these containers, labeling the lids. They harden up faster and are fast and convenient ways to serve various flavors to family and friends.In summary, this book allows us to make great gelato and sorbetto at home very easily and is highly recommended.

For the past few months I have experimented with my new gelato maker. Looking for recipes I scoured the Internet and had some fairly good results with recipes in a variety of styles (Lebovitz, Kurtzman), but they tasted like ice cream, even when labeled 'gelato' most of the recipes were still heavy on cream and yolks. This could be ice cream (or gelato from the north of Italy?) I'm no expert, but I couldn't find the 'lighter & healthier" Italian gelato that I've always read and dreamed about ... UNTIL NOW!Morgan Morano is the real deal, with recipes that taste super-fresh and light, not overly rich or heavy. Normally I stick with basic fior di latte or chocolate, but in the past two weeks I have made different 3 gelato and 2 sorbetto batches and they have ranged from excellent to unbelievably fantastic, my favorites being the 'espresso' gelato and the strawberry sorbetto. There are only simple, fresh ingredients in each recipe, and they are blended for AWESOME TASTE, NOT CHUNKS OR TRENDY FLAVORS!There are about a dozen others that I am eager to make in summer and fall (cherry, kiwi, walnut/pear) and will edit this post to reflect anything new that I learn, but so far:- I like how easy the recipes are to follow ... the ingredients are mixed first and then heated, since most recipes don't include yolks (though that would add just one step)- (edit) Unlike some other recipes, the Morano sorbetto fruits are not cooked, but added fresh to a base syrup. That means that the bright taste and healthy enzymes from fresh fruit go directly into the sorbetto. Very happy about that!One more thing:- I am pretty sensitive to the taste of sugar, so I usually cut out about 1/4 - 1/3 from most recipes I make at home, even baking. First I make the original recipe in its pure form (in this case I did fior di latte) then I modify to my taste. Not all recipes hold up, but with Morano Gelato recipes, I can do this mod and the texture and intense flavor hold up beautifully.Without a bunch of stuff to mask the taste, the key to making this kind of gelato is honest simplicity and the quality of your ingredients. I am looking forward to using fresh ingredients from my garden this summer. Morgan Morano's recipes enhance your ingredients and allow them to shine!THIS BOOK IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Finally REAL GELATO taste and texture. This is a must have book if you want the intense flavors and lower butterfat content of real Italian gelato. The recipes are precise and simple but Morgan Morano shares her secret ingredients that will turn out perfect real gelato flavor and texture every time. The measurements are by weight in grams so you will definitely want to get order a digital kitchen scale, about $25, if you don't already have one. Makes the recipe exact and super fast in one bowl.I have been making ice cream and gelato at home for over a year since I bought my Lello Musso gelato & ice cream maker and it is fantastic. But most recipes available for gelato are basically the same as for american style ice cream with primarily heavy cream and many egg yolks to deliver the creamy texture. Especially after a day in the freezer when most homemade ice cream needs 15 minutes of softening. These recipes are primarily whole milk with a little bit of heavy cream... just like in Italy.I've made 5 batches in the last 2 weeks and each has been perfect. Stracciatella, Chocolate and Cinnamon are my go-to flavors. I go back to the freezer many times just to get one more small spoonful because I can't believe how creamy and soft this gelato stays. I'm writing this in the morning and I have dropped a big spoonful of cinnamon gelato in my morning coffee. You will too.