Gelato di Lampone

What a better way to celebrate my 100th post than with a new gelato recipe! As I wrote about before, I've been searching for a good gelato in the U.S. for about the past 9 years. My husband joined me on that quest almost two years ago after we returned from Italy. Last night, we decided to try our hand at our favorite flavor - raspberry.

For those of you who haven't had real gelato before, I suggest you go out and find some now (but don't buy it at the grocery store. That stuff is all crap). It's similar to ice cream, but has a higher milk concentration (rather than cream) so it is more dense and much more flavorful. A real raspberry gelato should taste just like you're eating a smooth, cold raspberry.

After doing a lot of searching online, I came across a recipe for strawberry gelato that looked like it could be easily modified for raspberry (and by the picture, it looked delicious). Our review: super simple. It was delicious, but had a little too much of a dairy after-taste, so we'll cut down on the dairy a bit the next time we make it. So, the search continues, but minimally.

Raspberry Gelato

Gelato di Lampone
From Italylogue.com

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. fresh raspberries
12 oz. granulated sugar, about 1.5 cups
1.5 cup cold whipping cream
1.5 cup cold water
dash of lemon juice (only if fruit isn’t “bright” enough)

DIRECTIONS

Wash berries.

Put berries, sugar and water into a blender or food processor and blend until liquid and smooth. (This is also where you’ll add lemon juice if necessary.) (I suggest straining the blended mixture to remove the seeds. It's more authentic that way, and I think it tastes better).

Whip the cream until slightly thickened - like the consistency of buttermilk.

Combine the cream with the raspberry mixture and mix thoroughly until blended.

Freeze as indicated by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker. (I suggest going out and buying the Cuisinart ice cream maker. It's wonderful).