icecream

Gelatissimo x Trolls

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment
gelati
Poppy’s Frosting & Branch’s Cupcake

disclaimer: I was a guest at the gelato masterclass

A couple of weeks ago I was invited up to Gelatissimo at Norwood to a gelato masterclass which also celebrated the launch of two limited edition Trolls flavours.

For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that gelato is non-dairy based (unlike ice cream). However,  I have been wrong. Sorbet is water-based, gelato is milk and cream-based and ice cream may be milk and cream-based or it may be custard-based (in which case it also contains eggs). At Gelatissimo, the range also includes sorbets – so if you don’t eat dairy, you can still enjoy an icy treat.

We started with a quick run down of the theory of making gelato, before being shown the ropes. The Gelatissimo stores all make their product on-site and in the Norwood store, the action takes place behind a wide window, so you can get an idea yourself.

Gelato is made by mixing the milk, cream and sugar at temperature (in order to dissolve the sugar) before cooling and adding flavourings.  It is then churned at near freezing temperatures in order to both set the gelato and ensure there are no crystals.

gelato machine
Where the magic happens

While gelato is hardly health food, Gelatissimo does keep one eye on nutrition and there’s an emphasis on using natural products. Despite its very scary purple appearance, the Trolls-inspired Branch’s Cupcake gelato is actually coloured with beetroot! Quite a few of the standard flavours use Stevia in lieu of extra sugar and where possible, natural flavourings and colourings are used. The great thing is that the staff in the Norwood store (at least) were across all of this, so you can quiz staff about their product and they will actually know.

We sampled the two new flavours – Branch’s Cupcake and Poppy’s Frosting. I was really scared by the purple of Branch’s Cupcake (purple and blue are two colours foods are just not meant to be!) but I really enjoyed it. Not sure I can nail a flavour description for you – Gelatissimo describes it as ‘cupcake’ so I guess that kind of vanilla and cake batter vibe is what you should expect. I really wasn’t a fan of Poppy’s Frosting. It’s described as a bubblegum flavour but to me it was more along the lines of banana or banana sweets. 

As these are limited edition flavours, if you want to try them out you should do so during the school holidays. But never fear if you do miss out, as Gelatissimo has a very impressive range of flavours to choose from!

Gelatissimo Norwood
1/198-200 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067
ph: (08) 7225 4320

Very Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Vanilla ice cream (crop)

Here in Adelaide we sweltered through much of summer. As much as many of us might have complained about the above 40°C days, people were similarly disappointed that we didn’t crack our all time record temperature. I was pretty grateful that that was a record we missed – 46°C is plenty hot enough, thank you very much.

And while temperatures have dropped, and we’re enjoying some almost wintery days, we still have some moderately warm weather ahead of us – and, of course, our friends in the northern hemisphere are all looking forward to summer proper.

So all of that is justification for just now posting a super simple vanilla ice cream recipe. I first made this back in February to take along to a 4 year old’s birthday party. Funnily enough – there weren’t a great many photo opportunities at that event and, despite making a second batch, I’ve done a really rubbish job of attempting to photograph it. However, I’m willing to bet that pretty much everyone and anyone reading this page knows what vanilla ice cream looks like and doesn’t need eighteen perfectly shot images to remind them!

The great thing about this ice cream is that it is egg free which means that it’s custard free. This means that it is zero hassle to make and anyone who avoids eggs can eat it.

The original recipe comes from the Cuisinart manual that came with my mum’s ice cream maker. This recipe suggests that you will need to whisk the milk and sugar for just a couple of minutes. This is complete nonsense. You really need to whisk the milk and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved (otherwise you’ll have gritty ice cream – yuck!) and in my experience that probably takes a good 10-15 minutes.

As always with ice cream, making it on a stinking hot day is never a good idea – especially if your ice cream maker relies on a frozen insert.

This is one of the easiest ice cream recipes I’ve come across and, being vanilla, is an absolute crowd pleaser.

Print
Very Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250mL) full cream milk, cold
  • ¾ caster sugar
  • 2 cups (500mL) cream (pure cream is best but thickened cream will do), cold
  • 1-2 tsp vanilla paste to taste

Instructions

  1. Beat the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
  2. Thoroughly mix through the cream and vanilla paste. If you choose to use a stand mixer, keep the speed on low so that you don't heat the mixture.
  3. Churn in your ice cream maker according to instructions then place in container in freezer for at least a couple of hours.
  4. Makes about a litre.
https://eatingadelaide.com/easy-vanilla-ice-cream/

Cherry Ice Cream Recipe

- Alex 2 Comments

IMG_2905If you’re in a part of Australia which is currently sweltering (so, pretty much anywhere in Australia, judging by the amount of red on the weather map this morning …) the last thing you’re thinking about is eating, let alone cooking.

But if you are inclined to head to the kitchen, let me suggest this recipe for cherry ice cream. Cherries are in season here in South Australia and, with the run up to Christmas looking warm, I was after something low heat to make for dessert for Christmas day.  I had a look around for cherry ice cream recipes and discovered a few that used the same technique but weren’t based on a custard. In fact, the most complicated thing I was going to have to do was melt some sugar in some cream. On a hot day, even I can manage that. In the end I went with a recipe from Just One Cookbook, because I thought the finished product looked prettier.

Begin by ensuring your ice cream maker is ready to go. If you have one with a built in compressor then lucky you, otherwise make sure your churning bowl has been in the freezer for the right amount of time.

Begin by melting 1 cup of pure cream (for some reason about 99% of cream sold in Australia has thickener in it, avoid that stuff and look for ones marked ‘pure cream’ and even then, double check the list of ingredients!) with 150g caster sugar, a pinch of salt and the seeds and pod of half a vanilla bean. When the sugar has fully dissolved, remove from the heat and add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, another cup of cream and a cup of full cream milk.

Allow the mixture to cool completely. Especially if it’s a hot day, do this in the fridge, although bear in mind that if you are using really good cream, you’ll end up with a cream “crust” which will need to be whisked back into the mixture before churning.

Pit and quarter cherries so that you end up with 2 cups. I don’t have a cherry pitter but if you have really good fresh cherries, this isn’t hard work at all. If it’s not summer where you are, or fresh cherries aren’t available, use very well drained tinned cherries.

Churn in your ice cream maker, following its directions. When the ice cream is almost done, add the cherries and churn again. Don’t freak out when you add the cherries: the mixture is likely to become a lot looser than it was, but it’s not spoiled – you just need to keep on churning.

Once it has all thickened back up, put into a container, seal and put into the freezer overnight. Remove for at least half an hour before serving.

While this ice cream was insanely easy to make and both tasted and looked really good, I wasn’t a huge fan of the texture. Melting the sugar meant it wasn’t gritty but the high fat content, and the sheer volume, of the cream meant it was very grainy which didn’t really work for me. A custard based ice cream (such as the excellent coffee ice cream I made a while back) contains less fat and is much silkier to eat. However, if you’re still getting into your custard groove, or you have cream to use up, or you’re just feeling a bit lazy, this recipe works a treat.