Cherry Gelato Food

GELATO

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cream. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.
• Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the gelato is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency.

VANILLA GELATO WITH CHERRY COMPOTE

Steps:

• For the gelato: Add the milk, cream, 1 cup of the sugar and vanilla bean to a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to combine.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl until they become lighter in color and the sugar dissolves.
• When the milk mixture is at a simmer, lower the heat to medium. Carefully ladle 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, while whisking, and whisk until fully combined. Repeat this step one more time, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Add the salt. Cook the mixture while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir the corners of the pot. Cook until the mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.
• Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl or pot with water and ice. Carefully strain the mixture into a strainer set over a heatproof bowl. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Put the heatproof bowl in the ice bath. Stir occasionally until the mixture is chilled and no longer warm. Set in the fridge until very cold, at least 1 hour.
• Freeze the mixture to an ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a freezer-proof container and cover.
• Freeze before serving, 1 to 2 hours. It's best to serve the gelato the same day it's made.
• For the compote: Combine the cherries, 1/2 cup water and the sugar in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Stir to allow the sugar to melt. Cook the compote until the ingredients combine and the cherries just begin to break up, 7 to 10 minutes. (Depending on the ripeness of your cherries you may want to cook them longer.) Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum. Ignite the compote safely with a long-handled lighter and return to the stovetop to flambe and cook off the alcohol.
• Serve the gelato with the warm compote.

CHERRY GELATO

Steps:

• Make gelato:
• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean with tip of a paring knife into a small heavy saucepan. Add milk and a pinch of salt and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, whisk together sugar and cornstarch, then add 1/2 cup hot milk, whisking until smooth. Whisk into milk in saucepan. Bring to a simmer, whisking, then simmer, whisking, 3 minutes. Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl set in an ice bath. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from ice bath and chill, covered, 1 hour.
• Prepare cherries:
• Pulse cherries, sugar, and extracts in a food processor until finely chopped, then chill, covered, 1 hour.
• Make ice cream:
• Stir cherries with their juices into gelato mixture and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours.

CITRUS GELATO

Steps:

• Whisk the sugar, salt and yolks in a heavy medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Gradually whisk in the cream. Then whisk in the milk, buttermilk and citrus zests. Using a wooden spoon, stir the custard constantly over medium heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon and a thermometer registers between 180 and 185 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Immediately scrape the custard into a 4-cup measuring cup; mix in the rum. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, about 3 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. Cover until ready to freeze (can be made 1 day in advance).
• Freeze the custard in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.
• While the custard is freezing in the ice cream machine, peel and trim the ends from the zested orange. Using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments onto a cutting board. Cut the segments into 1/2-inch pieces. During the last 10 minutes of freezing time, add the orange segments.
• Transfer to a container; cover and freeze until ready to serve.