Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

Sitting home happily solo Sat night I decided to catch up on some DVR'd Food Network shows. Knowing the husband would roll his eyes at watching these episodes I took full advantage of being just me to check out some of Food TV's stars takes on ice cream. First stop, Giadda's Everyday Italian. Could she make it look any easier! Seriously why when I make ice cream do I always seem to have spilled cream everywhere, egg shells in my yolks, and of course some sort of scrambled egg mixture in the end (I am still learning!). So she hyped me up into making her Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato. Actually it truly was the jar of Nutella that did it. I tried it tonight for the first time and it really is one of the best things on earth. I can just image in a Nutella anf fluff sandwich or Nutella and anything for that matter. Okay back to gelato...Giadda's recipe actually is as simple as she makes it look so its worth checking out if you are into making your own ice cream, or gelato in this case.

Oh and if you are new to this like me, you might be interested in what makes gelato different from ice cream...my findings found that its the fact that italian ice cream(gelato) has more milk than cream and less air making it denser and richer. Whereas american ice cream uses a higher fat content with more cream than milk. I have found recipes to really vary but this is the lowdown on italian vs american. If anyone has a more thorough answer feel free to forward it along as my research was rather short and sweet. Actually Giadda actually explains this quickly in the beginning of the episode which was helpful.

My initial findings..this gelato takes much longer to freeze than my typical ice cream. Okay, its been 15 minutes and it still looks soupy (I am actually typing this on my counter as it churns away so this is a play by play post..never take your eye off the ball they say!). Okay 30 minutes later and still soupy...not looking too good. (looks like The Perfect Scoop cover but I am sure tastes nothing like it!)

Next morning... :( icy and not the creamy texture that Giadda's looked like. No clue what went wrong but it was my first try at making gelato. My husband actually really liked it although he thought it was very sweet but it definitely didn't meet my expectations. Oh well..practice makes perfect I guess. At least I discovered Nutella in the process and now have a new BFF!

Try it out...Giadda made it look awesome and I'm stil learning so don't take my word for this recipe yet!


Giadda's Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.