Traditional Italian Gelato Recipe - Delicious Authentic Flavors (2024)

FAQs

What is authentic Italian gelato made of? ›

The ingredients for gelato

Very common ingredients such as milk, sugar, fruit, water, cream, eggs, powdered milk and fructose are used.

Flavors. The original fior di latte is a plain, base ice cream with no flavor and no eggs added. Stracciatella is fior di latte gelato with chocolate chunks. Traditional flavors of gelato include crema ('custard'), vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, almond, and pistachio.

Using my base No-Machine Homemade Gelato recipe, you can make three different flavors: blueberry cheesecake, salted caramel, and triple chocolate!

There isn't really a “secret” ingredient in gelato – the magic lies in the process. However, what sets gelato apart from its frozen dessert counterparts is the quality of the ingredients used and the low amount of air incorporated during the slow churning process.

Unlike industrial ice creams, which often have high levels of incorporated air to increase volume, gelato is churned at a slower speed, preventing the formation of ice crystals and resulting in a creamier and denser treat.

Meanwhile, mounds indicate that air has been pumped into the gelato to make it voluminous instead of flavorful. The best gelato is flat and dense with muted colors—a sure sign that there are only fresh, natural, and raw ingredients.

Stracciatella. Invented in Italy, stracciatella is the essence of modern, yet classic gelato. In Italy, stracciatella is referred to as vanilla gelato with crunchy chocolate pieces on top or throughout the gelato. It can also be used to create a chocolate flavored gelato.

The raw materials. The key feature that really makes the difference between Italian gelato and ice cream is the use of fresh raw materials. For the ice cream, in fact, milk powder is rehydrated on the spot. The Italian gelato, instead, is made with milk and fresh cream.

Every gelateria will have the staple flavors: coffee, hazelnut, chocolate chip, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pistachio, lemon, and the like. Many will have other flavors such as fig, cantaloupe or other seasonal fruit when in season.

Frozen Gelato Flavors

Gelato also incorporates nuts into many of its flavors. However, the peanut is not common in Italy. Their nutty gelato flavors are more unique serving up nocciola, mandoria, noce, hazelnut, almond and walnut flavors.

Is Talenti real gelato? ›

Talenti gelato is particularly special because we make it from scratch with the finest ingredients from around the world, and use an old world process that involves slow cooking our ingredients and making our gelato in smaller batches than most other ice cream in the US is made.

Like ice cream, gelato uses milk, cream, and sugar, but it differs in proportions. Gelato uses less cream and more milk than ice cream and typically contains no egg yolks or eggs at all. Gelato is served slightly warmer than American ice cream and is also churned at a slower rate, introducing less air into the product.

Gelato also contains less air than American ice cream — that helps keep it dense, fluid and creamy.

High quality gelato is made with all-natural, seasonal ingredients and little to no artificial coloring. Because of this the colors will not be vibrant, but rather dull. For example, pistacchio should never be bright green like you might imagine, but brownish.

Authentic Italian gelato is slowly churned so it contains less air and has a dense texture. This gives is a weightiness and a thick, creamy appearance. Making real gelato is time-consuming so fake gelato will generally be whipped up with artificial powders which make it fluffier and lighter.

Made using less air and more milk, gelato is much silkier in texture and richer in flavor. Because of the way gelato is made, it also contains less butterfat and fewer calories overall. Here in the United States, many have attempted to replicate the creamy, dense flavor of gelato with no success.

Like ice cream, gelato uses milk, cream, and sugar, but it differs in proportions. Gelato uses less cream and more milk than ice cream and typically contains no egg yolks or eggs at all. Gelato is served slightly warmer than American ice cream and is also churned at a slower rate, introducing less air into the product.

Nope! Gelato is an Italian word that happens to share the first five letters of gelatine. Our gelato is suitable for vegetarians and as such, does not contain any gelatin or gelatine whatsoever.