Honey gelato

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

We don’t serve a straight honey gelato (like this one) at Messina; we do sell a honey gelato but we call it Italian Nougat, because we add our own nougat chunks (the hard stuff not the soft nougat) and roasted nuts.

Just a tip: we use Manuka honey, a quality honey from New Zealand, which I think works best. You can use ordinary honey if you like; experiment with the different types to find a flavour you like. If you find my recipe too strong on honey, when you make it the next time, replace a portion of honey with sugar.

The last thing to take into account: don’t heat the honey above 40°C, as the acid in the honey can sometimes curdle the rest of your mixture, so add the honey during the cooling phase and once the mix goes under 40°C.

Domestic

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
650g	milk
120g	cream
45g	skim milk powder
35g	dextrose
5g	stabiliser
145g	manuka honey

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; chill to 40°C, then blend in the honey using a stick blender. 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, 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 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 mixture to 85°C, then will switch to cooling phase. When the mixture is anywhere between 40°C and 20°C, slowly pour in the honey.
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 mixture 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 serving temperature of the gelato should be around –11°C to –13°C.

Tags:: gelato; ice cream; ice-cream; icecream; Gelato; Messina; Nick; Palumbo

Honey gelato

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