Gelato an Italian Dessert

Gelato time, gelato time ! It’s hot and we prepare our gelatos with melon , vanilla, chocolate, stracciatella, water melon. Let’s mix the ingredients. Half an hour in the gelato machine and…a scoop of gelato !

Who really invented gelato ? Most stories credit gelato to Bernardo Buontalenti, a native of Florence, who delighted the court of Caterina dei Medici with his creation. Italians are certainly credited with introducing gelato to the rest of Europe; with Sicilian born Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli who opened in Paris in 1686 a café named after himself called “Café Procope”.
In Italy , the art of traditional gelato making has been passed on from father to son, improved and perfected right up to the 20th century, when many gelato makers began to emigrate, taking their know-how to the rest of Europe.
Good quality gelato combines high quality ingredients with milk and cream.Hundreds of different flavors of gelato with fruit,chocolate, nuts have been realized .Oh, not to forget : North American style ice creams contain more butterfat and air than gelato.

Melone al Gelato

1 melon
175g sugar
1 lemon
200g cream
4 mint leaves

Cut the top off the melon, remove the pulp and place the melon in the fridge. Pour the lemon juice onto the melon pulp and whisk together with the sugar and the cream. Pour into the ice-cream freezer for about 30 minutes.
Fill the melon with this ice-cream and put the top back on. Decorate with mint leaves.

Limoni Ripieni

4 lemons
200g sugar
250g milk
250g cream

Cut the tops off the lemons, squeeze out the juice, remove the insides and place the lemons in the fridge. Beat the lemon juice with the sugar, add the milk and the cream. Pour into the ice-cream freezer for about 30 minutes. Fill the lemons with the ice-cream and serve.