These recipes, like the previous one, are from the Piedimonte Etneo pasticceria Caffè Calì. The gelato features characteristically Sicilian ingredients: almonds from the town of Avola, pistachios from Bronte, and hazelnuts and citrus from Etna.
Gelato al torrone con pasta di mandorla (Nougat gelato with marzipan biscuits)
An Australian Christmas-ready dessert: gelato for the summer heat; nougat for the festive spirit.
- 1 hr preparation
- 30 mins cooking
- Serves 6
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Ingredients
- 60 gm almonds, coarsely chopped
- 60 gm hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
- 50 gm pistachios, coarsely chopped
- 80 gm mixed glacé fruit, such as cherries and oranges, finely diced
- 50 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
- 1 litre milk (4 cups)
- 250 gm caster sugar
- 200 ml pouring cream
- 150 gm dextrose (see note)
- Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean
Marzipan biscuits
- 250 gm almond meal
- 200 gm caster sugar
- 2 eggwhites (from 65gm eggs)
- Finely grated rind of ½ orange
- 100 gm pure icing sugar
Method
Main
- 1Preheat oven to 180C. Roast nuts separately on oven trays until golden (5-10 minutes), rub skins from hazelnuts, cool, coarsely chop, combine in a bowl with glacé fruit and chocolate and set aside.
- 2Combine milk, caster sugar, cream, dextrose and vanilla seeds in a saucepan over high heat, bring to the boil, place in a bowl over ice and stir occasionally until cool. Freeze in an ice-cream machine, stirring in nut mixture in the last minute of churning. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm (2 hours).
- 3Meanwhile, for marzipan biscuits, preheat oven to 190C. Combine almond meal, sugar, eggwhite and orange rind in a bowl and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a work surface and roll into a cylinder about 2cm thick. Sieve icing sugar onto work surface, roll dough in icing sugar and cut into 32 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log, then form into an "S" shape. Place biscuits on trays lined with baking paper and bake until golden (10-15 minutes). Cool on a wire rack. Biscuits will keep stored in an airtight container for 2 days. Serve with scoops of nougat gelato.
Notes
Dextrose is available from online home-brew supply shops including Country Brewer and Aussie Brewmakers.