Mr R&R would like it known upfront that he’s morally opposed to this post. It deeply offends his Italian sensibilities, history, culture, in fact everything that he stands for, and is an affront to the metric tonnes of ice-cream he’s consumed so far, and and insult to the hard-working families producing authentic gelati the length of the beautiful peninsula.
To be honest, he has a point – you’ll never find these flavours in a gelateria in Torino, but then again why should you? They have incredible hazelnuts, pistachios and chocolate to play with, whereas I in the Bahamas have beets coming out of my ears, kilos of sugar and homemade bread to perk up my ice-cream. Our mileage most certainly varies. Not that I’m miffed, I quite like the weird and wonderful if presented in a frozen creamy form, and I hope you do too. But I can’t be responsible for the results if you serve sesame, brown bread or beetroot ice-cream to a Torinese…
Basic gelato for two
- 250ml whole milk
- 50ml double or heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 50g caster sugar
Measure the cream and milk into a saucepan and heat gently, until hot but not boiling. Meanwhile put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl that’s large enough to take the cream and milk mixture too. Whisk until pale, 2 minutes with an electric beater. Pour the cream and milk onto the eggs a bit at a time, whisking continuously, until it’s all incorporated. Pour back into the saucepan and heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Don’t overheat it and let it boil – go slowly so the process takes about eight to ten minutes over a medium heat.
Chill the custard well in the fridge, then pour into an icecream maker. Because this makes half-quantities, it generally churns in 15 minutes rather than 25, but do check on it.
Toasted sesame and butterscotch ice-cream
- Good handful of sesame seeds
- 30g unsalted butter
- 50g dark brown sugar
- 120ml heavy cream
- Good pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Toast the sesame seeds by tossing in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until just starting to colour. Allow to cool and then pound or process to a paste. Heat the milk and cream together, add the nuts, and allow to steep for about two hours. Then pass through a sieve and discard the solid remains, reheat the milk and cream, and continue making the custard above.
While the ice-cream is churning make the butterscotch sauce: melt the butter over quite a low heat, then whisk in the cream, sugar and salt and simmer gently for five minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool. Once the ice-cream has churned, transfer it to a container for the freezer and stir in the butterscotch sauce so it forms a swirl.
Brown bread icecream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 slice brown, wholewheat, rye or spelt bread, about 60g – can be stale or fresh
- 60g soft brown or demerara sugar
Tear the slice of bread, crusts and all, into bite-size pieces and toss with the sugar. Line a baking sheet with parchment and toast at 180˚C for 10 minutes until crispy and caramelized. Process briefly to get rubble rather than fine crumbs. Make the basic ice-cream above with the addition of a good tsp of vanilla extract to the finished custard, and stir in the crumbs just before removing from the ice-cream maker.
Beetroot icecream
- 1 beetroot
- 1 square fine dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids
Roast the beetroot, whole and unpeeled, at 200˚C for about 1 1/2 hours until tender. When cool peel it, purée the flesh and chill well. Make the custard as above, chill and then combine the beetroot. Churn and just before taking out of the ice-cream maker, add in a square of finely chopped chocolate.
