Poached figs in marsala gelato

By: Nick Palumbo
From: Gelato Messina
Makes: 1 kg
Photographer: Billy Law

A great friend and business partner in another life, Eugene Maiale (we’ve owned a few Italian restaurants together, both in Adelaide and Sydney), once made me try some poached figs in port when I popped over to visit one day … I’m talking over twenty-five years ago … and as soon as I ate them, I knew I had to convert them into a gelato.

Originally I poached the figs with port but my Sicilian blood got the better of me, so I switched to marsala, but the process is exactly the same.

Domestic

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
470g	milk
150g	cream
140g	sugar
35g	skim milk powder
5g	stabiliser
150g	Fig jam
50g	sweet marsala wine

Method

Mixing

Put the milk and cream in a double boiler over a medium heat.
Put all the powders in a bowl and mix until combined. When the milk and cream hit 40°C, whisk in the powders and bring the mixture up to 65°C. Keep the mixture at 65°C for 30 minutes, whisking every 5 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a stainless steel bowl and place in an ice bath; add the fig jam and chill to 40°C. Cover tightly with foil and put the bowl in the freezer, stirring every 10 minutes or so until the mixture drops to 4°C, then place in the fridge and let it age for 4 hours.
Churning

Turn on your gelato maker so it begins the freezing process.
Using a stick blender, blend the mixture for 1 minute, then pour into the gelato maker. After a few minutes, add the marsala.
Once the mixture reaches –4°C, scoop out the gelato and transfer to a pre-cooled stainless steel bowl, cover tightly and immediately place in the freezer.
Serving

The serving temperature of the gelato should be around –11°C to –13°C.

Professional

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
	as above

Method

Mixing

Put the milk and cream in a pasteuriser and select high pasteurisation.
Put all the powders in a bowl and dry mix. When the milk and cream hit 40°C, whisk in the powders; the pasteuriser will take the entire mix to 85°C, then will switch to cooling phase. As the temperature of the mix comes down to 70°C, add the fig jam.
Once the pasteuriser runs its cycle and gets down to 4°C, let the mixture age for 4 hours at 4°C.
Churning

Measure an appropriate amount of mixture into a measuring jug and put in a batch freezer. After 5 minutes, add the marsala into the churner. Within 10 to 12 minutes, your mix should be ready for extraction.
For long-term storage, up to 2 weeks: Put the gelato in a blast freezer for 30 minutes, then store at –18°C. For short-term storage, 2 to 3 days: Put the gelato in a storage freezer at –18°C.
Serving

The gelato should be served within 2 to 3 hours after placing it in the freezer, or when it reaches –12°C. If it goes below –15°C or is left in the freezer overnight, the texture will be compromised.