vanilla bean gelato with orange white chocolate sauce.

i've always had a hard time sharing my recipes with people, i'm not sure if it's because i'm selfish or because i don't want them to steal my recipe. probably a little bit of both. this gelato recipe won me a student culinary achievement award at school last year and it won over the hearts of many since then. i'll put my non sharing fetish aside for the moment as long as you drop everything and make this.

vanilla bean gelato with orange white chocolate sauce.
from the kitchen of sarah leslie
gelato base:
5 Large egg yolks.
3/4C. sugar
2 1/4C. whole milk
1C. heavy cream
1 Vanilla bean

step one: in a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow and thickens up.
step two: combine the whole mill, heavy cream, and 1 vanilla bean (sliced in half lengthwise leaving the bottom attached) in a saucepan.
step three: heat the mixture until it barely begins to bubble along the edges. DO NOT allow the mixture to boil or else it will resuld in curdled milk--yuck.
step four: remove from heat.
step five: remove vanilla bean and scrape out the remaining seeds with the tip of a small knife and add the seeds back into the milk mixture then discard the shell.
step six: while whisking the egg mixture add in about a cup of warm milk mixture and combine together--this step is called tempering and it prevents your egg + milk combination from becoming a scrambled eggs catastrophe.
step seven: add remaining milk mixture.
step eight: heat the mixture slowly to 175*-185* F. this is just the temperature the internet gave me forever back and it seems to work. if you don't have a thermometer just dip a wooden spoon in the mixture and if it coats the back then you're in business!
step nine: pour into an airtight container and chill overnight.
step ten: pour mixture into an icecream mixer (this is for my three pint cuisinart mixer) and leave on for about twenty minutes. the ice cream will be really soft, if you want it to firm up place it in the freezer for a couple of hours. good luck waiting that long.


though the ice cream is to die for this sauce, oh man it's SO good. i wanted to do something different that would dress up a basic gelato. this is what i came up with and i've been making it the same way ever since.

orange white chocolate sauce.
1/2 C. whipping cream
1/3 C. honey
11.5 oz white chocolate (i ALWAYS use two bars of ghirardelli vanilla bean while chocolate.)
the zest of one orange
the juice of one orange.

step one: add honey and whipping cream to a saucepan on medium heat. combine completely not allowing it to boil.
step two: add orange juice and zest and mix completely then allow to simmer for one minute. this allows the orance flavore to really infuse with the honey and milk mixture.
step three: add white chocolate to the mixture and combine.
step four: allow to set up for about fifteen minutes then spoon over ice cream. this can be kept out of the refridgerator in an air tight container for two days.
delicious.

happy eating!
sarah.