Most of my summers growing up included a few weeks in Italy. The Italian ‘gelato’ has thus become a necessary supplement for an acceptable summer. Unfortunately I haven’t spent too many summers in Italy after moving on my own, and as ice-cream is a wee bit difficult to import, I have now bought an ice-cream maker and am on the search for a recipe for proper Italian ‘Gelato al Limone’ – lemon ice-cream.
Many years back I tried lemon ice-cream in Norway. I was close to tears when I tasted it. It tasted like frozen, thick McDonalds-inspired milkshake. It was sickening. The Italian lemon ice-cream on the other hand is just wonderful. The fat content is lower (the sugar content is still through the roof) which makes it thinner, and more refreshing. It’s like a creamy sorbet and must be tried.
I have so far tried one recipe, and though delicious, it’s not as soft and creamy as it should be. It is a tasty ice-cream, and has been added to my book of recipes, but it’s not quite the ‘gelato al limone’ I’m looking for.
You need:
4 dl of water
4 dl of sugar
2,5 dl of milk
2,8 dl of lemons (that was about 5 lemons)
2 egg whites
Dissolve the sugar in simmering water. Then, and do this is the following order: add the lemon juice to the water before you add the milk (I tried to save a wee bit of time and added the milk to the lemon juice *facepalm*). Whisk the egg whites and gently stir in with the rest.
Put the mix the in the fridge until properly cold before using the ice-cream maker. I have obviously not invested enough money in my ice-cream maker, and thus never got more than slush, but after half a day in the freezer (stirring once or twice) the texture was as good as it gets.
Anne blabbers 