A recipe for raspberry ripple gelato

I went on holiday to Sicily in June. One of the things I loved was the ice cream or gelato – smooth, light, and full of fresh fruit. I discovered that on the island they often make their gelato from whole milk thickened with corn flour - no cream, no eggs.

On my return, I found a recipe for Sicilian-style gelato on David Lebovitz’s blog.  I’ve been experimenting a little since then and this is my best concoction so far, using raspberries which are in season at the moment.

Gratuitous photo of Sicily - it's very pretty

Raspberry ripple gelato (based on David Lebovitz’s recipe for pistachio gelato)

500 ml whole milk (or you can use semi- or skimmed)

2 tbs corn flour

100 g raspberries

6 + tbs caster sugar

Mix the corn flour and four tablespoons of the milk together in a bowl until well-combined.

Heat the milk and four tablespoons of sugar (or more to taste) to just below boiling point (It will be steaming with a few bubbles around the edge). 

Add the corn flour mixture to the milk, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for three minutes, whisking all the time. You only want a very gentle simmer, a few bubbles coming to the surface. Leave to cool, then put it in the fridge to go cold.

In the meantime, make the raspberry sauce by putting the raspberries and two tablespoons of sugar (or more if you prefer) in a bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Mix with a spoon, and it should dissolve into a sauce. If not, heat in 30 second bursts until it does.  If you want to get rid of the pips, push the mixture through a sieve. Leave to cool, and then put in the fridge.

Once both the thickened milk and the sauce are cold, churn the milk in an ice cream maker (we have this manual one), put in a container and then swirl through the raspberry sauce.