Sicilian gelato, or ice cream made with starch (instead of eggs), makes for a perfect and versatile base for most flavours! Making it is easy and fairly “fail-safe”, and the results are generally very smooth and pleasant.
Ingredients
700 ml (about 3 cups) whole milk (or 350 ml (1.5 cups) cream and 350 ml (1.5 cups) milk)
125 ml (a full ½ cup) sugar
3-4 tablespoons of corn starch [or other suitable starch]
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean (split lengthwise)
Instructions
Whisk together 200 ml (about 0.8 cup) of the cold milk with the corn starch, making sure that there are no remaining lumps. Set aside for now.
Blend the remaining 500 ml (about 2.1 cup) of the milk/cream, the sugar, the salt and vanilla bean (with seeds scraped out and added) in a sauce pan. Warm until steaming hot (not boiling!) on medium heat.
Blend the corn starch mixture with the rest of the ingredients in the sauce pan. While barely reaching a boil, cook and stir for about four- five minutes, or until the mixture has begun to thicken and any possible “floury” taste (from the starch) has disappeared [and don’t overcook: that would reduce the thickening powers of the starch].
Take the ice cream base from the heat and let the mixture cool down.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours, discard the vanilla bean, and freeze according to the instructions of your ice cream machine.
In case you have no ice cream machine, still-freeze the base in your freezer (see the link below the box!) – this base is perfect for still-freezing, by the way!
After the churning, place the ice cream in a freezer-safe container, cover with plastic film and a lid, and store in the freezer.
Notes
Please note that you may want to adjust the amount of cornstarch used to find the consistency you prefer. For instance, if using a relatively high proportion of cream, you may want to use less cornstarch (1-2 tablespoons, suggestively). I encourage you to experiment and find out what suits you best!
And yes – you can do also do it without an ice cream machine! Still-freeze the ice cream as described here. Actually, it is worth mentioning that this particular base is perfect for still-freezing – the results are usually very smooth, scoopable and just like a good ice cream should be!
Adding flavours and add-ins to the base recipe – good examples to check out!
The base recipe is a very good base for most flavours, but do check out these illustrative and well-received recipes for extra guidance: Chocolate and hemp seed ice cream, Imperial Roman ice cream, Cardamom-Cinnamon ice cream, and Saffron Raisin ice cream. They all contain different flavours and add-ins, and should give you good ideas when experimenting! And do not forget to check out the variety that uses Arrowroot instead of corn starch, exemplified by delightful Orange blossom ice cream!
In case you want to check out all the recipes made with this base, search for (or use the ‘tag cloud’ on the bottom of the page) “ice cream with starch” – that should bring up all the relevant recipes.
