Introduction: Gelato Base + Vanilla or Mint
Contrary to opinion making gelato is not hard, but it is precise. Gelato is an Italian style ice cream with whole milk not heavy cream and less air. It is more dense and believe it or not less calories.
When I visited Italy I ate it twice a day everyday. My daughter asked that I turn my scientific and engineering skills to making gelato. Even though she is the chemical engineer. To that end I have researched the physics, learned enough Italian to view cooking shows and read recipes. I have kept notes on experiments and worked out an easy way to make gelato with well defined steps (hopefully).
Equipment:
Saucepan - medium size
Whisk
Wooden Spoon
Ice cream or gelato maker - mine is a reconditioned Cuisinart that I got for $30 some time ago.
Instant Thermometer - I swear by my Thermapen, they make a lollipop version much cheaper but a little slower still great.
Yes there is a difference between the two types gelato machines paddles tend to put less air in the base than ice cream makers. Unless you are fat with money you should not spend more than $100 (even that is too high) for a machine that can make a quart.
Ingredients:
3 cups of Whole milk *see note about milk
3/4 cup of sugar
4 egg yolks (from large eggs)
1 Tbl of corn starch *see note on corn starch
1Tsp mint extract (for mint Gelato or 1Tbl of Vanilla Bean Paste for Vanilla)
1/2 cup of chocolate chunks semi sweet or dark chocolate (why because I like them better than morsels)
*Milk - Whole milk is approximately 4% milk fat depends on the manufacturer (company and cow). some will round up 3.5% to 4%. So I boost it with a little fat and replace 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk with the same amount of "Half and Half" why "Half and Half" almost everyone has it in the refrigerator. In my visits to Europe I found the milk richer than in the US and thus somewhat justified in this slight cheat.
*Corn Starch - it is often used as a thickener, in this case my research into Italian recipes found they often use 6+ egg yolks. Nobody needs that cholesterol, so with 4 you get the richness and flavor of the egg without the extra cholesterol. If you read italian recipes they often give the the contents in grams even for egg yolks, given the unscientific nature of egg sizing if one of your egg yolks is a lot smaller than the rest add an extra Tsp of corn starch.
Because this is a base to make Vanilla Gelato replace the mint with 1TBL Vanilla bean paste. 1TBL = 1 vanilla bean pod.
The instructions are all in the video slideshow, even follow the directions on serving for best results.