another day, another gelato

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed with last week's white peach gelato, because I just felt that if I had followed my instincts and not gone with so much water, it would have turned out creamier and less icy. In any case, we still ate every bit of it, so obviously it wasn't bad. But as is my way, I wanted another shot at it. This time, I decided to go with blueberries, my favorite fruit of all time.



Whereas the white peach recipe fell somewhere between a gelato and a sorbet, this recipe fell somewhere between a gelato and an ice cream. It required a bit more work and patience, calling for cooking the berries then cooling for a few hours. This is always the hardest part.



In the end, the added time was well worth it, as this one came out exactly as I had hoped. Creamy, full of blueberry flavor, fresh and sweet. One thing I might choose to do next time is strain the fruit after cooking. Though I have had blueberry gelato with the skins left in, I thought there was a little too much of it in this batch.



One word of warning: this will turn your mouth purple. Recipe after the jump:

BLUEBERRY GELATO

2 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup cold milk (whole)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Combine the blueberries, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the blueberries soften, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree. Alternately, you can put the mixture through a food mill. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest, then chill the fruit puree until it is completely cold.

Just before you make the gelato, add the milk and cream to the blueberry puree. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the gelato in an air-tight container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the top surface to prevent ice crystals from forming. Cover the container with a lid and freeze for up to 1 week.