Gelato alla Fragola

(Unedited)

Please read the Gelato Introduction if you haven’t already. This is the same as the Gelato al Lampone (raspberry) or Gelato al Mirtillo (blueberry), except this one has strawberries. Of the three, this is our favorite.

600g strawberries, weighed then washed and drained

250g fresh WHOLE milk, preferably sourced locally

300g fresh heavy cream, preferably sourced locally

55g egg yolk

100g sugar

45g dextrose powder

60g non-fat milk powder

2g tara gum powder (or carob powder)

1. Weigh ingredients separately. Pre-mix dry ingredients using a whisk.

2. Blend the washed strawberries into a fine liquid. There’s no need to dry them first, but obviously drain them.

3. Slowly heat the whole milk, cream, and egg yolks. Stir continuously with a whisk.

4. Once the milk mixture gets warm, slowly stir in the pre-mixed dry ingredients. Stir continuously with a whisk.

5. Continue heating the mixture on medium heat until it gets to 85C. Stir continuously with a whisk.

6. Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the strawberry liquid. Then immersion-blend the mixture for 3 minutes.

7. Transfer the pot into an ice-water bath in a larger bowl and stir continuously until the temperature gets back to close to room temperature. This is standard practice for pasteurization.

8. Filter the mixture through a strainer to get rid of any seeds.

9. Cover the mixture tightly with plastic wrap and store overnight in the refrigerator. This allows the flavor to mature. If you can wait 48 hours, it will taste even better. It may remain in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.

10. When it’s time to churn the mixture, turn on the chill part of the gelato machine to get it a little cold for 3 minutes.

11. Turn on the churner and slowly pour the mixture into the built-in bowl of the gelato machine. Replace plastic top.

12. It should be ready to eat in 20 minutes with the Musso Lello 4080. Turn off the chiller 30 seconds before completing the churning process. If the gelato machine shows signs of struggling to turn, it’s past done. Other gelato machines may never get it hard enough to eat and may require that you put it in the freezer for some amount of time.

13. Serve gelato in small bowls that were pre-cooled in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

14. Store uneaten gelato in the freezer. To get it soft enough to eat later, you may need to put it into your refrigerator for up to 1.5 hours. But keep in mind that the consistency won’t be as good as it was right out of the machine. In any case, the best option is to make only as much as you need and store the remaining mixture in the refrigerator until the next day when you can make it again, but keep in mind that you will need to churn it for much less time.