CLASSIC CHOCOLATE GELATO
Like the Colosseum, Beethoven’s 9th or Luke’s lightsaber – the greats in this world are timeless. Provocative. There is an instant emotional connection. Classic Chocolate Gelato is one of those things.
clas·sic
/ˈklasik/adjective
1. Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.
ASDF
In 1692 the first recipe for frozen chocolate was published in the Italian book The Modern Steward. It involved chipping ice, endless stirring and had to be served immediately…to the wealthy. Imagine a full day of labor so the elite could indulge in a few minutes of gelato. Things are a lot easier now. I promise.
CC
VV
recipe q&a
Unsweetened, semi (or bittersweet), and cocoa powder.
You do not want a candy bar or chocolate chips (both are usually made to keep their shape – not melt evenly) You want high-quality baking/cooking chocolate. The better the chocolate, the better the gelato.
Yeah, it can be. There’s no need to spend a paycheck on Valhrona or some rare artisanal single varietal. Callebaut and Scharffen Berger are great choices that can sometimes be found in supermarkets and are easily found online.
. . .are pretty simple. You need premium quality 100% cocoa which is not the same as a cocoa mix or hot chocolate mix. Premium cocoa powder has 20-22% fat. In a pinch, any cocoa with 10% or greater will work. It’s what you want for gelato as well as all kinds of baking
Stay with me – it’s not hard! Check the total fat and the serving size on the label: 1g of total fat per 5g serving is 20% fat, .5g of total fat per 5g serving is 10%. Still too much math? Callebaut, Penzy’s and Scharfeen Berger are all premium cocoas.
CLASSIC CHOCOLATE GELATO
Classic Chocolate Gelato is a simple recipe with a complex flavor that comes from using three different kinds of chocolate.
- Yield: 1 quart
- Category: Easy
Ingredients
- 202g sugar
- 34g non-fat milk powder
- 27g cocoa powder*
- 20g tapioca starch
- 617g whole milk
- 192g heavy cream
- 36g corn syrup
- 30g egg yolks
- 23g unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- 36g chocolate 65% finely chopped *
Instructions
- Make an ice bath and set aside. Put the finely chopped chocolates into a large bowl.
- Combine sugar, non-fat milk powder, cocoa powder, and tapioca starch. Mix milk and cream in a large bowl. Whisk in the dry ingredients until there are no lumps. Thoroughly incorporate the corn syrup and egg yolks.
- Place the mixture in a medium saucepan and cook for 8-10 minutes at medium-high. Heat until bubbles start forming around the edges but do not let it come to a full rolling boil. Keep stirring the mixture. In the last few minutes, the gelato will thicken. Once it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, pour it through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl with the finely chopped chocolate.
- Let it sit for 3-5 minutes then mix vigorously, scraping the melted chocolate off the bottom. It may take a few minutes of mixing before the chocolate is completely incorporated (there should be no visible pieces of the chopped chocolate left)
- Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the gelato to prevent a skin from forming. Put the bowl of hot gelato into the ice bath. Once it reaches room temperature remove from the ice bath and refrigerate for 4-12 hours.
- Give the gelato a quick stir with an immersion blender or whisk then process in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The gelato is finished when it reaches the consistency of soft serve ice cream (about 20-30 minutes on most machines) Scoop into a container, place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on the surface and freeze until firm (4 hours minimum)
Notes
- Cocoa powder with 20-22% fat content will give the best results but a powder with 10% (or greater) fat content will work.
- Chocolate should be very finely chopped so it melts evenly and quickly into the hot gelato mix.
MANDARIN GINGER SORBET
3 Comments
Tia
I really like this post.
★★★★★
MJ
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!
Brian
Congrats, you literally wrote one of the best posts I’ve seen in forever.