MORE GELATO TIPS

I have just finished reading Jean Mansfield’s article about gelato and her recipes.

I wondered if it was at all possible for her to publish (create? invent?) a recipe for coffee gelato made with freshly-made espresso or freshly-ground coffee beans, not instant coffee.

I purchased an electric ice-cream maker two years ago but the recipes for home-made ice cream are so timeconsuming and you have to use five egg yolks and pre-make the custard. I haven’t used it in ages.

I also wondered if it is possible to switch chocolate powder and syrup for proper 70 percent chocolate (I have always used Whittakers). I am not sure I can purchase chocolate syrup or chocolate powder here in Whakatane. I have always used real chocolate.

I have also never used xanthan gum – is it necessary?

Many thanks for a fantastic magazine. I am a subscriber, although I don’t have a lifestyle block but I do have a large garden where I grow all my own fruit and vegetables and I find a lot of articles in your mag so useful. Keep up the information.

Many thanks, Jude Mills, Whakatane Jean Mansfield replies: Xanthan gum (available from supermarkets and bulk bin stores or online) is necessary as it’s the emulsifier in gelato – it prevents ice crystals forming during the freezing process to give you the correct texture of gelato. Arrowroot or cornflour can be used instead but they give it a quite floury taste.

Freshly-made espresso can definitely be used instead of the water component – just use the same weight.

Solid chocolate is more difficult to combine in the gelato as liquid chocolate tends to seize and you end up with some combined and some solid. You could grate the chocolate in to get it more like a chocolate crunch.

The recipes for home-made ice cream are so time-consuming