Italian Gelato

Summer is coming and Sansone Market has the best summertime dessert to keep you cool. Gelato, which is translated to ice cream, is a creamy and fresh Italian-style ice cream. Italian gelato resembles the recipe of American ice cream, but the ingredients are added in different proportions. Gelato comes in all different flavors just like the ice cream we all know and love.

American Ice Cream vs. Italian Gelato

As mentioned, Italian gelato recipes resemble the classic American ice cream recipe. However, they do have some specific differences. Ice cream starts off with ingredients like cream, milk, sugar and egg yolks. These ingredients are mixed until they form a rich custard and are churned at a high speed. Gelato starts off with the same ingredients to form a custard as well. However, gelato uses a lot more milk and less cream and eggs. Gelato is turned at a slower rate which causes it to be denser than ice cream.

Furthermore, the way these two desserts are served differs as well. Ice cream is served at fairly cold temperatures to keep the scoops together. The finished product is smooth, creamy and light. Gelato is served at slightly warmers temperatures. This allows the texture to stay soft and silky. Some people prefer gelato over ice cream because of its ending flavor. Since it’s made with less fat, gelato’s main flavor ingredient really shines through.

Frozen Gelato Flavors

Italian Gelato comes in several different flavors. Like ice cream, these flavors range from chocolate and vanilla to cookies and cream. 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.

Italian Gelato also incorporates fruit. When walking into a gelato shop in Italy you’ll find some fruity flavors like strawberry, melon, and lemon. Gelato flavors also incorporate some very unique fruit flavors as well including fig, blueberry and banana.

Specific to its land of origin, gelato also incorporates unique Italian candies and sweet treats. Cantucci is a Tuscan almond cookie turned gelato flavor. These cookies are usually served with vin santo and Italian wine. If you happen to find a gelato flavor called “cantucci vin santo” it’s your lucky day. In this case, the gelato most likely contains both the cookie and wine flavor.

Sansone Market offers their customers authentic tastes of Italy. To avoid melting this summer, be sure to keep your freezer stocked with plenty of Italian-style, homemade gelato. No need to worry because there’s a gelato flavor for every preference.