Learn how to make an authentic Italian fior di latte gelato at home. After attending culinary school in Italy, I'll teach you all the best tricks for delicious-tasting Italian gelato.
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If you cannot get gelato from one of the 40,000+ gelaterias located around Italy, then you should learn how to make it at home. After going to culinary school in Italy, I can share all the best insider tips for making Italian-style gelato.
Today, I'm showing you how to make fior di latte. This is a very basic flavor that highlights the taste of the milk and cream.
In school, we were taught to taste fior di latte at a new gelato shop to evaluate how good the gelateria was. Because the flavor is so pure, it's easy to taste if the gelato shop uses good ingredients.
I'll walk you through all the ingredients you'll need as well as how to make the fior di latte gelato base. For this recipe, you will need an ice cream or gelato machine to churn the mixture (I use this Whynter machine).
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- The ingredients you'll need to make authentic, Italian gelato.
- Step-by-step photos to guide you along the process of making fior di latte gelato.
- Tips for churning and storing the gelato.
Don't forget to grab all of my favorite, go-to Italian gelato recipes, plus my best tips for making gelato at home.
Ingredients You Need
There are some specialty ingredients that you'll need for Italian fior di latte gelato. These are non-negotiable to achieve the traditional taste and texture. If you don't want to invest in these ingredients, I'd suggest making a custard ice cream instead.
- Dextrose: This is a type of sugar that helps to reduce both the perceived sweetness and the freezing point of the gelato.
- Guar gum and locust bean gum: These are both types of stabilizers, and they're used to thicken the gelato. These are imperative if you're making gelato at home since an at-home ice cream machine will whip too much air into the gelato without the addition of these stabilizers.
- 2% milk: The milk helps with the texture and taste of the gelato. Since milk has a high water content, it's also the reason the gelato base can freeze.
- Granulated sugar: This is the second type of sugar used in fior di latte. The ratio of sugar helps to determine how quickly the gelato will melt as well as lowers the freezing temperature of the gelato base.
- Nonfat milk powder: The powdered milk is important to help thicken the gelato and provide the correct texture.
- Heavy cream: You may see this ingredient labeled as heavy whipping cream at the grocery store. The cream provides a great taste and mouthfeel.
How To Make This Recipe
Before you begin making fior di latte gelato, let's do some prep work:
- Fill a large bowl with ice to use later as an ice bath. Place an empty bowl on top of the ice.
- Place a storage container in the freezer to chill. This will be used after churning the gelato.
- Finally, if you have an ice cream machine that requires you to pre-freeze the bowl, remember to give it 24 hours in the freezer to fully chill.
1. Whisk dextrose, guar gum, and locust bean gum in a small mixing bowl.
2. Next, cook the milk in a heavy bottom saucepan (something that has a thick bottom, so the milk doesn't easily burn) over medium heat until it reaches 105°F (40°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
3. Once it reaches temperature, whisk in granulated sugar and nonfat milk powder.
4. Once dissolved, whisk in the dextrose mixture. Continue cooking the gelato base over medium heat, stirring often to ensure it doesn’t burn, until it reaches 195°F (90°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk in heavy cream.
6. Place a fine mesh strainer over the empty bowl on top of the ice bath, and strain the gelato base. This will catch any large clumps that could mess up the gelato texture. Chill the gelato base until it has stopped steaming.
Then, cover the base with plastic wrap and rest it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
7. Pour the gelato base into an ice cream maker, and process for about 20 - 25 minutes or according to the manufacturer's directions. The gelato will be on the soft side.
Transfer the churned gelato into a chilled storage container. Place the gelato into the freezer to "cure" or harden up for a few hours. To serve, swipe the frozen gelato with a flat paddle. Smash the gelato on the side of the storage container to push out some of the air before placing in a serving bowl.
Expert Tips
- Allow the gelato base to cool completely before churning. If you want your fior di latte gelato to properly freeze in the machine, it has to be super cold (around 40 - 42°F or 4°C - 7°C). Don't try churning the gelato while it's still hot, or you'll end up with a soupy mess.
- Don't forget to place the ice cream machine bowl in the freezer 24 hours before churning if you don't have a built-in freezer compressor.
- Want to serve the fior di latte like they do in Italy? Use a gelato spatula, then swipe the gelato, and smash it down on the side of the container to remove the air before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Store gelato in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. It's best to keep the gelato in a freezer that's not often opened and closed. Every time the temperature of the gelato increases and then refreezes, there's more of a chance for the gelato to become icy/grainy. If you notice the gelato is icy or grainy, it has gone past its prime.
Yes, you can make the gelato base ahead of time, and store the mixture tightly covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 24 - 48 hours ahead of churning.
Many unique qualities about gelato make it different from ice cream, including:
- It has an overrun (the amount of air incorporated into the gelato base) of 25% or under, which is less than American-style ice cream.
- It's stored around 5°F (-15°C) to 10.4°F (-12°C), which is a higher temperature compared to ice cream.
- It uses less fat than classic American ice cream.
- To serve, it's swiped with a pallet and then smashed down to remove the air.
More Gelato Recipes
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Fior Di Latte Gelato
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon dextrose
- ¼ teaspoon guar gum
- ⅛ teaspoon locust bean gum
- 2 cups 2% milk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder
- 1 ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with ice to use later as an ice bath. Place an empty bowl on top of the ice. Set aside. Place a storage container in the freezer to chill.
- Whisk dextrose, guar gum, and locust bean gum in a small mixing bowl.
- Cook milk in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat, until it reaches 105°F (40°C) on an instant read thermometer. Once it reaches temperature, whisk in granulated sugar and nonfat milk powder. Once dissolved, whisk in dextrose mixture.
- Continue cooking the gelato base over medium heat, stirring often to ensure it doesn’t burn, until it reaches 195°F (90°C) on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove saucepan from heat. Whisk in heavy cream.
- Place a fine mesh strainer over the empty bowl on top of the ice bath. Strain gelato base.
- Chill gelato base until it has stopped steaming. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the gelato (to prevent a skin from forming on top) then cover with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Remove the gelato base from the refrigerator, and whisk to reincorporate. Pour the gelato base into an ice cream maker, and process for about 20 - 25 minutes or according to the manufacturer's directions. The gelato will be on the soft side.
- Transfer churned gelato into chilled storage container. Place gelato into the freezer to "cure" or harden up for a few hours. To serve, swipe the frozen gelato with a flat paddle. Smash the gelato on the side of the storage container to push out some of the air. Transfer to a serving bowl.
- Store gelato in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
Terrance
This recipe is a god send! I’ve been craving gelato since i went to Italy and this made me feel like i was on the streets of Florence again! Must try for truly good gelato!