Fragola: The first test

In the summer of 2005 I made my first trip to Italy. Specifically I spent a few days in Rome and Venice. This summer was my first encounter with gelato, the tasty Italy frozen treat. Gelato is more dense and flavorful than your typical ice cream. Also there is less butterfat content because less heavy cream is used in its creation.

I have recently returned from a honeymoon in Europe where I was reunited with gelato. After marrying my now wife Erin, we spent two weeks in Paris, Rome, Venice, and Munich. I have to say of all the places the best gelato was in Paris. The fragola we had was out of this world and the raw flavor slammed my tastebuds with a sweet but tart mouthful of flavor. To me fragola or any fruit flavored gelato is the quickest way to test gelato. Yes, gelato from north Italy typically uses milks and creams but to me the more creamy gelato is the more it just tastes like ice cream.

Today was my first attempt at making gelato. My now mother-in-law gave me an ice cream maker that has never been used. It's a Cusinart ICE-20 model. Probably not the best machine to use to make gelato since it is designed to aerate the mixture. As you can tell my choice of flavor for this first attempt had to be fragola or strawberry. The recipe I found called for 3/4 pound of fresh strawberries, 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, 3/4 cup of water, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1/3 cup of heavy cream. The heavy cream concerned me but the was I see it I'll start with a recipe that has some cream and work my way down to no cream or a soy or almond milk alternative. I used my Blendtec and mixed the aforementioned ingredients to a nice puree. Unfortunately I failed to read the Cusinart ice cream maker instructions and am now waiting for my freezer bowl to freeze overnight. However, my hope is that the puree can bind nicely as it refrigerates overnight. I feel like a kid before Christmas anticipating my chance to freeze my gelato after work tomorrow!

Update: I ran the mixture through the ice cream maker this morning. The ice cream maker did not freeze the mixture well enough and I ended up putting it in the freezer. I tried it about 3 hours later and it was a perfect texture. Then about 7 hours later I tried it again and the taste is good but the texture and density is not right.