Name of Recipe: Gelato - the most pure of flavours from the Messina recipe book
Number of People: Makes 1.5 litres
Ingredients:
145g castor sugar
45g skim milk powder
650g pure milk - homogenised & pasteurised (I used Pura brand)
120g pure cream - 35% fat & pasteurised (I used Bulla brand)
(The ingredients I didn't use were 35g Dextrose & 5g stabiliser and it worked fine without these, these would be combined in stage 1 of the recipe if you were to use them. See note below as to their purpose.)
Preparation:
Place the sugar and skim milk powder in the TM bowl and mix together 10 sec/reverse/speed 3. Remove from bowl and set aside.
Place the milk and cream into the TM bowl and heat 2.5mins/37o/speed 2.
Increase heat 30 sec/50o.
Add sugar mix and heat 4 mins/70o/speed 3.
Reset to 30 mins/70o/speed 2.
Place the mixture into a metal bowl & into an ice bath until temperature drops to 40oC - this will take around 10 minutes depending on how much ice you have used.
Cover the bowl and place in the freezer and stir every 10 minutes (set a timer) until temperatures drops to 4oC. This step will take around 50 minutes.
Place the bowl into the fridge for 4 hours to 'age' the gelato. It can be 'aged' overnight if this time frame is more convenient.
Turn ice-cream machine on for 10 minutes to cool the bowl or place the bowl in the freezer beforehand as I did.
Pour the gelato mixture into the TM bowl (or use a stick blender) and blend 1 min/speed 6.
Insert the gelato paddle into the ice-cream maker, pour in the mixture and churn until temperature reaches 4oC or as I did, just churned until it became thick which took approx. 40 minutes.
Pour the mixture into your freezer container and place in the freezer for a few hours before serving.
Tips/Hints:
Gelato making can be very complex and the author of this book recommends using a stabiliser (eg guar guar) and an emulsifier for any gelato that is not going to be eaten within a few hours of churning because he says the texture will be compromised as will the storing time. This is fine for commercially produced gelato but I decided to try the recipe as pure and as simply as possible and it is just lovely as is. Even after being in the freezer overnight, it is still easily scoopable this morning and I'm sure it will only last me a week maximum.