MAINE WILD BLUEBERRIES AND CREAM

Recipe from “Gelato Fiasco: Recipes and Stories from America’s Best Gelato Makers,” by Joshua Davis, Bruno Tropeano and Cynthia Simonds, and due out in July.

Yield: About 3 pints

3 1/4 cups Classic White Gelato Base (see recipe below)

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen Maine wild blueberries

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a blender, combine 1 cup Classic White Gelato base, the blueberries and powdered sugar. Add the remaining classic white base and the vanilla extract, blending until mixture is smooth and uniform in color. Place in a covered container and refrigerate until cold, 4 hours or overnight. Once the base has chilled, churn it in your home ice cream maker.

CLASSIC WHITE GELATO BASE

Recipe lightly adapted from “Gelato Fiasco: Recipes and Stories from America’s Best Gelato Makers.”

“When we first opened, we tended to mix traditional Italian names for flavors with English names,” the book says. “So, this flavor’s original name was ‘Fior di latte’ or ‘flower of the milk.’ It’s a beautiful, descriptive name for just the taste of fresh milk and cream.” To make the gelato egg-free, the recipe calls for guar gum, a naturally derived thickener sold in the gluten-free baking area at the grocery store.

Yield: About 3 pints

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon guar gum or 3 egg yolks

1/2 cup cream

3 cups whole milk

7/8 cup skim milk powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine 1/3 cup sugar with the guar gum powder. Or, if using eggs, whisk the yolks with 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl until the mixture is homogeneous.

In a medium-sized pot, combine the cream, milk, skim milk powder, remaining 2/3 cup sugar and salt over low heat. Slowly whisk the sugar and guar gum into the milk. (Or if using eggs, slowly pour about a third of the hot cream mixture into the yolks and sugar mixture while constantly whisking to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Then, carefully but quickly, whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the remaining cream.)

Gently bring the mixture up to a simmer, whisking often to incorporate all of the ingredients. Cook until the sugar and skim milk powder dissolve completely. This should take about 5 minutes. Turn the burner on medium-low. Keep an eye on the mixture and continue to stir, now with a spoon. No need to be too vigorous – you are just trying to keep the mixture moving. Cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, which will be about 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Cool to room temperature as fast as possible and then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. If you just can’t wait, you can pour the warm mixture into a zip top freezer bag. Carefully seal the bag, removing as much air as you can. With the bag securely sealed, submerge the liquid into a large bowl filled with ice water. Manipulate the liquid – squish it around – so it cools quickly. Pour out some of the water and add more ice to the bowl as the water bath warms. For us, this takes about 25 minutes.

Once the base has chilled, churn it in your home ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.