Vanilla Gelato with Cherry Compote Recipe
Recipe by Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos
Watch the preparation of this dish.
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 4 cups of gelato
- Nutritional Information Per Serving (1 of 14 servings): Calories 257, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 8 g, Carbohydrates 28 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Sugar 27 g, Protein 4 g, Cholesterol 171 mg, Sodium 45 mg
- Total time: 3 hr 30 min
- Preparation: 20 min
- Resting: 2 hr 45 min
- Cooking: 25 min
Gelato:
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 10 large egg yolks
- Pinch of salt
- Ice water for cooling
Quick Cherry Compote:
- 4 cups pitted cherries
- 1 tablespoon sugar, adjust as needed
- 2 to 3 tablespoons dark rum
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) NEW: You can now enable Cook Mode to keep your screen awake.
Special tools:
- A long-handled lighter
- For the gelato: In a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine milk, cream, 1 cup of sugar, and the scraped vanilla bean. Heat over medium-high until simmering, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, in a large heatproof bowl, whisk together egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until pale and the sugar dissolves.
- When the milk mixture is simmering, reduce heat to medium. Slowly and carefully pour 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks while whisking continuously. Repeat this process once more, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Add salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to reach the edges, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.
- Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl filled with ice and water. Strain the custard through a sieve into a heatproof bowl, discarding the vanilla bean pod. Place the bowl in the ice bath and stir occasionally until the custard is cool and no longer warm. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least one hour.
- Pour the chilled custard into an ice-cream maker and churn following the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the gelato to a freezer-safe container and cover.
- Freeze for 1 to 2 hours before serving. It's ideal to enjoy the gelato on the day it's prepared.
- For the compote: Combine cherries, 1/2 cup water, and sugar in a 2-quart saucepan. Heat over medium until just simmering, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook until cherries soften and begin to break apart, roughly 7 to 10 minutes. Depending on how ripe your cherries are, you may want to cook longer. Remove from heat and add the rum. Using a long-handled lighter, carefully ignite the compote and return to heat to flambe off the alcohol.
- Serve the gelato topped with the warm cherry compote.
The compote can be prepared in advance without rum, gently reheated before serving, and flambeed as described.
Categories:
