Nectarine Gelato

Hello friends! Sorry it's been a while!

Remember my post about the Saanich fair, and all of the wonderful produce I bought there? Well, following through with my addiction to creamy frozen desserts, I decided to try making gelato. By they time I got all of my produce home some of it was the worse of wear. The skins on my very-ripe nectarines had split, and the juices were gathering in the bag! I knew I had to use these right away! What better way to get the flavor of ripe fruit, and not worry about it being a little soft? Puree it!

Here is Cathy Burgett's recipe from culinary school for fruit gelato!

Basic mixture for fruit gelato
1 1/2 cups whole milk (I actually used 1% and it worked fine)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/3 cup dry nonfat milk powder (1oz.)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp granulated gelatin

2 cups fruit puree, strained (berry, mango, peach, nectarine etc.) I used nectarines
or
1 Tbsp citrus zest and 1 1/2 cups strained citrus juice

Combine milk, cream and corn syrup in a saucepan. Combine dry milk, sugar and gelatin in a small bowl and stir to mix.

Add the dry mixture to the milk in saucepan and whisk to prevent lumps. Place saucepan over low heat, bring mixture to a simmer, whisking occasionally. Remove from the heat and cool.

While the gelato base is cooling, puree your fruit.

Stir in fruit puree before freezing in an ice cream maker.

This turned out so amazingly creamy, without freezing too hard or becoming icy. The flavor was beyond what I would have hoped for! The ripe, fresh, full flavor of the nectarines came through beautifully, without any competition! I wanted to eat the whole batch immediately! It was so so so so sooo good!

But then I remembered my little jewel box of currants, also from the fair. I had been undecided as to what to do with them. I was so impressed by this gelato recipe that I figured, hey, why not? I'll try currant gelato too!

I know that currants are very tart, so when I pureed them I added an extra 1/3 cup sugar into the blender.

The seeds in these currants were rather large, so I strained them out.

I mixed it all together when cooled,

And froze it in the ice cream maker,

then put it into the freezer.

When it was ready the texture was just as creamy and luscious as the nectarine gelato, but the flavor was not quite what I was hoping for. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, other than "funky". Not bad, just very different. I have been using it in smoothies. It's just not up to par. So, when wondering what to do with your glistening bunches of fresh currants, do NOT make it into gelato! Now I'm wishing I'd made a sauce out of them instead.

Le sigh.

It sure turned out a pretty color though!

Be creative with this recipe! Make lime gelato, or lemon vanilla! Try Mango, strawberry, or boysenberry! The possibilities are endless! After making ice cream, gelato, sherbet and sorbet I have to say that gelato gives me the texture I really want in a frozen dessert. It stays creamy and light in the freezer. The fruit is uncooked, so the flavor is fresh and intense. There are no eggs, so you don't end up with that cooked egg flavor you sometimes get with ice cream. There is also only a 1/2 cup of cream, and I used 1% milk, so your mouth doesn't feel coated in fat! Next time I want a failsafe recipe for deliciousness, this is what I'll reach for!

What is your favorite version of frozen desserts?