Peanut butter gelato

Elvis, the fat years

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

This flavour is one of the more extreme ones we make at Messina and it’s definitely not for the faint-hearted — it’s our version of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

We start off by making slabs of brioche, which are cut into small pieces and fried in butter. We then make a banana jam and, finally, a peanut butter gelato. As the gelato comes out of the machine, we ladle in the jam and throw in the fried brioche.

A customer by the name of Christian Lo Russo, better known as front man of the rock band Amy Meredith, loved it so much that, for a while, we changed the name of this flavour to Christian Skinny Jeans.

Don’t eat for the day if you’re planning to make this gelato!

Domestic

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
670g	milk
145g	sugar
30g	skim milk powder
50g	dextrose
5g	stabiliser
100g	peanut butter
	Brioche
	Banana jam

Method

Mixing

Put the milk in a double boiler over a medium heat.
Put all the powders in a bowl and mix until combined. When the milk hits 40°C, whisk in the powders and peanut butter 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; chill to 40°C. Cover tightly with foil and put 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.
Once the mixture reaches –4°C, scoop out the gelato and transfer to a pre-cooled stainless steel bowl; as you do this, scatter the fried brioche and ladle the banana jam into the gelato (you want to see the jam folded through the gelato). Cover tightly and immediately place in the freezer.
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.

Professional

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
	as above

Method

Mixing

Put the milk in a pasteuriser and select high pasteurisation.
Put all the powders in a bowl and dry mix. When the milk hits 40°C, whisk in the powders and peanut butter; the pasteuriser will take the entire mix to 85°C, then will switch to cooling phase.
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. Within 10 to 12 minutes, your mix should be ready for extraction. As the gelato comes out of the churner, scatter the fried brioche and ladle the banana jam into the gelato (you want to see the jam folded through the gelato).
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 serving temperature of the gelato should be around –11°C to –13°C.