I started making gelato in the Sicilian style back the early 00’s after visiting Palermo and the west coast of Sicily. Looking back, we were basically kids with no car and would get from town to town by bus. It was clear from go that the Sicilian love affair with frozen desserts knows few rivals, and we would beat the dust and heat by ducking into gelaterias from Trapani to Marsala and beyond.
Making Sicilian Gelato is decidedly different from making American-style ice cream. It starts with a milk base, often skipping the eggs and heavy cream altogether. Cornstarch (or an equivalent) is used as a thickener. And the result is a beautifully smooth and creamy scoop, often lighter on the palette than an egg and cream-based alternative.
Gelato recipe: Guidance and Inspiration
I remember there was a series of gelato-focused articles in Saveur magazine during that 00’s era sharing history and recipes. One of them, The Empire of Ice Cream, written by Mary Taylor Simeti (2007? Maybe earlier? I feel like it was earlier), explored the history of Sicily and frozen treats. She talks in the article about Sicilian-style gelato, which is different from gelato in the rest of Italy. In a conversation with a Palermo ice cream maker he tells her, “Unlike most mainland ice cream, Sicilian gelato rarely contains eggs or cream. Instead, the base, known as crema rinforzata, is a rather liquid version of blancmange, a sweet pudding of milk thickened with corn (or rice) starch.” Similar to now (2025), when eggs are increasingly considered a luxury, this style of gelato was delicious yet less expensive to produce. Another theory I’ve read is that eggs are more difficult to digest in the Sicilian heat. Probably a bit of both. I started making this style gelato back then, experimenting, and tweaking the ratio of milk to the other ingredients until it was in a place I was happy with – the recipe down below.
One last thing, before we move on, there’s a great story about Mary in Sicily on Anissa Helou’s substack.
Gelato: The Ingredients
- Milk: Full fat whole milk for this recipe. And I haven’t tested it with any milk or non-dairy alternatives, but if you do, please post to the comments.
- Sugar: I’m using granulated sugar here. If you want an amazing ice cream made with honey as the sweetener, aka no refined sugar, try this honey ice cream – milk, cream, vanilla, honey, and salt, that’s it.
- Cornstarch: This is what thickens up your gelato mixture. I’ve experimented with different amounts over the years, but find the amount in the recipe is the sweet spot.
- Vanilla: I call for a teaspoon of vanilla paste here, but often split a vanilla bean down the line, scrape out the paste with the edge of a sharp knife and toss it all into the milk. You can do either, or if you really love vanilla – use both.
- Salt: Older ice cream or gelato recipes I’ve come across tend to omit salt. But, I think it is important and I like my gelato mixture to have some salt to counter-balance the sweet.
What Else Makes Gelato Special?
A couple other variables that impact gelato are:
- Churn Speed: Your ice cream maker at home is different than a production gelato machine in Italy. Those machine churn more slowly and use a different mechanism resulting in less air being incorporated into the gelato – it is going to be thicker, denser. But don’t worry, even if your gelato ends up being a bit fluffier than what you might experience in Italy, it’s still wonderful, smooth and creamy. Especially just out of the machine – as pictured here.
- Freezer Temperature: There is a lot of discussion about dialing in ice cream and gelato texture out there, but not enough attention is dedicated to freezer strategy. Home freezers turn your gelato rock hard over night so I like to churn my gelato the same day I’m planning on serving it (if you’re not enjoying it straight from the machine lol). Give it a few hours in the freezer, and a couple minutes on the counter before scooping for structured and super creamy perfection. For any overnight leftovers the next day give a few minutes on the counter to let it warm up a bit before scooping. My sense is that the gelaterias keep their cases at a slightly warmer temperature than a home freezer for the creamiest scoops.
Gelato variations:
The gelato recipe below will give you a great vanilla base to start with. Here are a few easy ways to play around with other flavors.
- Stracciatella: drizzle melted chocolate into the gelato as it is churning (in the last couple of minutes), for the real deal chocolate chip.
- Infusions: You can infuse the hot milk with so many things, a few ideas: mint, rose geranium, saffron, jasmine tea, rosemary, a favorite curry powder. You’ll be straining the mixture prior to churning so the solids will be removed at that time.
- Berries: Experiment with adding crushed berries, or crushed, freeze-dried berries to your base. That’s the easy move. If you want a more involved (but worth it!) classic berry swirl experience, here’s my berry swirl ice cream. Make the berry component from that, and fold it into this frozen gelato base.
- A Richer Gelato: A lot of gelato recipes have some heavy cream and incorporate an egg yolk or two as well. I don’t find that I need it here, but you can certainly swap out 1/3 cup of the milk for 1/3 cup of heavy cream. You can also add an egg yolk (whisk into cornstarch mixture), but you’ll need to temper that mixture before adding to to the hot milk so you don’t end up with cooked eggs.
This Gelato Goes Great With:
A few of my favorite things to enjoy with this gelato:
- these pistachio cookies crushed on top.
- these roasted strawberries make a perfect pairing.
- good home-baked biscotti.
- ginger cookies crumbled over the gelato is magic.
More Ice Cream Recipes
- Frosty Lime Sherbet
- Fresh Mint Chip Frozen Yogurt
- Classic Berry Swirl Ice Cream
- Grapefruit Sorbet
- Frozen Yogurt
- Honey Ice Cream
Continue reading Gelato on 101 Cookbooks