Chocolate Gelato from 'Pidapipo'
‘Pidapipo: Gelato Eight Days a Week’ by Lisa Valmorbida is not just a recipe book, it’s a celebration of all things ice cream. Bologna-trained gelato expert Lisa Valmorbida opened her ice cream shop in Melbourne in 2014, and it has quickly become a must-visit destination.
The recipes and stories in this book both celebrate and eschew tradition in equal measures. This chocolate gelato recipe from the book, made from rich, dark chocolate, is one of our favourites.
Extract from Pidapipo: Gelato Eight Days a Week by Lisa Valmorbida, published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography by Lauren Bamford.
Ingredients (Serves 10)
- 95g caster sugar
- 55g dextrose
- 15g skim milk powder
- 40g dark muscovado sugar
- 55g Dutch cocoa powder
- 3g carob bean powder
- 460g milk
- 115mL pouring cream
- 155g filtered water
- 50g dark chocolate (70% solids), in small pieces
Put the carob bean powder in a separate bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture and mix together well.
Pour the milk, cream and water into a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Whisk in the carob bean powder mixture and continue to heat, whisking in the sugar mixture as you go, until it hits 85°C (185°F). Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and whisk together until the chocolate has melted into the mixture and everything is well combined. Pour into a suitable lidded container and leave to cool in the freezer for 1 hour, or until the mixture drops to 4°C (39°F).
Turn on your gelato maker so it begins the freezing process.
Pour the mixture into your gelato maker. Once the mixture reaches -4°C (25°F) or is the consistency of soft-serve ice cream (this should take about 30-45 minutes) detach the canister or scoop the gelato into a pre-cooled lidded container. Transfer to the freezer and leave for at least 1 hour to harden before serving.