Table of

contents
Solids in gelato................................................................ 70
Sugars.................................................................... 71
Fat.......................................................................... 71
Milk proteins........................................................... 72
Other Solids........................................................... 72
Recipe: Wedding cake “Valentine”................................ 73
Preface - why gelato?....................................................... 5 Recipe: Golden praline.................................................... 78
Nils Hendrikse versus Bas van Haaren -12 opposites... 6 Balancing a gelato recipe............................................... 80
The history of Italian gelato............................................ 10 Calculate relative sweetness (POD) ...................... 84
What is gelato?................................................................ 14 Calculate anti-freezing power (PAC)...................... 84
Mixtures, solutions, emulsions and foams............. 14 Creating gelato flavours......................................... 88
Recipe: Raspberry cone................................................. 18 Recipe: Coupe de Avallana............................................. 90
Gelato Ingredients........................................................... 20 Recipe: Cauliflower......................................................... 94
Water (H2O)............................................................ 20 Advanced balancing tools.............................................. 98
Milk......................................................................... 21 The scoopability of a gelato................................... 98
Cream..................................................................... 22 The freezing curve.................................................. 98
(skimmed) Milk powder.......................................... 22 Ice Fraction.......................................................... 101
Carbohydrates and sugars.................................... 24 Overrun calculations............................................ 102
Sucrose.................................................................. 24 Recipe: Sex on the beach............................................. 104
Dextrose (D-Glucose)............................................. 25 Dairy-free gelato............................................................ 108
Glucose Syrups...................................................... 25 Fruit Sorbets........................................................ 108
Maltodextrins......................................................... 26 Fruit...................................................................... 108
Invert Sugar............................................................ 27 Fruit sources........................................................ 109
Fructose................................................................. 27 Solids in the Fruit................................................. 110
Honey..................................................................... 27 Amount of fruit in a Sorbet................................... 111
Lactose.................................................................. 28 Sugars in a Sorbet............................................... 112
Stabilisers and emulsifiers..................................... 30 Calculating a Sorbet Recipe................................ 112
Different stabilisers................................................. 31 Production of a fruit sorbet using Sugar syrup.... 115
Emulsifiers.............................................................. 32 Recipe: Cinnamon-pineapple....................................... 119
Stabilisers in the gelato shop................................. 33 Vegan gelato.................................................................. 122
Recipe: Fragaria.............................................................. 34 Ingredients........................................................... 122
Recipe: Red fruit tartelette............................................. 38 Water.................................................................... 122
The production cycle...................................................... 42 Vegetable protein................................................. 123
Selection of Ingredients......................................... 42 Fat........................................................................ 125
Balancing the recipes............................................. 42 Sugars.................................................................. 125
Pasteurisation........................................................ 42 Vegetable fibres................................................... 126
Ageing.................................................................... 43 Stabilisers............................................................. 126
Flavouring the mix.................................................. 44 Final Parameters.................................................. 126
Freezing.................................................................. 44 Example of a vegan white Base........................... 127
Shock freezing....................................................... 45 Example of a chocolate sorbet............................ 127
Sales and storage.................................................. 46 Recipe: Coconut............................................................ 132
Recipe: Handy Ruby........................................................ 48 Recipe: Easter gelato cake........................................... 134
Batch freezers.................................................................. 50 Sugar reduction............................................................. 138
Recipe: Cacao bean........................................................ 52 Unrefined sugars.................................................. 141
Recipe: Avocado.............................................................. 56 High intensity sweeteners.................................... 142
Flavour Ingredients......................................................... 58 Recipe: Gelato pralines................................................. 143
Vanilla..................................................................... 58 Infusions......................................................................... 146
Chocolate............................................................... 58 Recipe: Coffee-meringue gelato bomb....................... 148
Recipe: Ruby gelato cake............................................... 60 Recipe: Fig and pecan salad........................................ 152
Recipe: Gelato bar........................................................... 64 Gelato defects............................................................... 156
Recipe: Gelato cone 2.0.................................................. 66 Appendix........................................................................ 158

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 Preface.
gelato
Gelato is a frozen treat with roots from all over the
world, but most famously Italy. The word gelato
comes from the Italian word ‘Congelare’ which
means ‘frozen’. But what is it exactly? And why
not call it ice cream? What does -12°C mean?

Sure, ice cream and gelato are both frozen delights. between 20 and 35%, whereas industrial produced ice
Made from raw materials, such as milk, cream and cream can contain over 100% of air. Gelato has made a
sugars, they are subsequently whipped while adding huge step in popularity and fame over the last few years.
cold to create a cold treat with a soft and smooth With the overall global increased interest in homemade
consistency. However, there are some differences. Since and ‘real’ products, combined with a rising sense of
both of the writers of this book have a predilection for healthier nutrition, gelato has gained popularity over ice
crafts, quality and artisanal activities, it was important cream with artisan gelato parlours popping up globally.
to stick with a product that has all those properties.
The title for this book is -12°C. This is the perfect serving
Gelato differs from ice cream in many ways. Gelato is temperature for artisan gelato. With this book, our aim is
made in an artisanal way on a small scale, using only the to offer a true reference book for starters as well as the
finest and freshest raw ingredients. Gelato means offering more advanced Gelatiere in the gelato industry. With its
daily fresh products of high quality in a changing and in-depth theory, recipe calculation methods, beautiful
evolving menu over the seasons and days, whereas ice and tasty gelato creations and recipes, we believe this
cream is produced with giant machinery in a big facility, is a great enchiridion for everyone who shares the same
not always using the finest ingredients. Ice cream is mostly love for this beautiful, fluffy and frozen product: gelato.
produced on a big scale and meant for long storage. Apart
from the almost melancholic reasons, ice cream and gelato
differ in terms of the final product. Gelato contains less
sugar and fat than ice cream does and it carries less air.
For example, the air incorporation of gelato is anywhere

5
 Gelato IngrediEnts
Water (H2O)
the Batch freezer, the ice crystals are at their smallest.
A big part of gelato is water. The water content They are so small and finely divided that you don’t
ranges anywhere between 58-68% for Milk gelato taste them with your tongue, unlike the ice cube.
and even more (68-74%) for fruit sorbets. It is a part Ice crystals not only form during gelato production, the
of milk, cream, fruit and some types of sugar. water inside the gelato does not stand still after that
either. When the gelato is extracted from the machine,
the ice crystals are properly mixed into the gelato and
The formation of ice crystals
are so small that they cannot be tasted. That changes
Water is the only element of gelato that actually freezes, as the gelato ages. If a container of gelato has been in
so it changes from a liquid state to a solid state under the freezer for a while and you take it out to scoop a
the influence of cold. It gives consistency to gelato. Not portion, the temperature of the surface will rise. As a
all the water in the gelato, however, freezes at the same result, the ice particles turn back into water and when
temperature due to the different types of solutions. the temperature drops again because the gelato is then
returned to a colder freezer, this water refreezes. Only this
Pure water freezes at 0°, but because of the time it does not freeze into the same small ice crystals,
added sugars and solids, the freezing point of the because they have disappeared, yet into larger ice crystals
water drops. On average, the freezing point of a that you can taste. Also, when the gelato sits inside the
gelato mix lies between -2.6°C and -3.2°C. gelato cabinet, this cycle continues. With the changing
temperature of the gelato display, water melts and
Water turns to ice when frozen and normally freezes into freezes again, resulting in bigger ice crystals over time.
a tight crystal grid: a large and hard ice block in which all Apart from the formation of ice crystals and its
water molecules are packed closely together. The closer function as a solvent for the solids in a recipe, water
the ice crystals are to each other, the harder the ice gets is also an ingredient for the transportation of flavour.
and the colder it feels in the mouth. Just think of an ice Water melts in your mouth when you take a bite of
cube in a soda: that is a solid surface of many small ice gelato, which is what creates flavour release.
crystals packed together. They release a lot of cold on
your tongue which is why an ice cube feels very cold.
The ice crystals in gelato are no longer a solid crystal
grid. How does that work? Some of the solids in a
recipe, such as sugars and proteins, dissolve in the
water. We call this the matrix. The water molecules
surround the sugar molecules, so the sugar dissolves
in the water. When the matrix cools down, the water Water molecules
molecules can no longer freeze into a tight crystal grid
because of the presence of these sugar particles in
between the water particles. More cold is needed to Sugar molecule
get this done. You call this the anti-freezing power. This
is why a gelato mix does not freeze at 0 degrees, but
only at -2 or -3 degrees Celsius. So the more solids
there are in the mix, the more cold it takes to form ice
crystals. This also affects the size of the ice crystals.
The water in the gelato mix is converted
​​ into very
small ice crystals during the freezing. This is done in
the Batch freezer where the mix is ​​kept moving while
simultaneously adding cold. All of this creates small ice
crystals. When the finished gelato just comes out of

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Water as a means of transport Standardised milk
In addition to the temperature in your mouth, the melting Standardised milk is the one found in the supermarket
speed is also important to experience the desired taste and is characterised by the fact it is always the same.
experience when eating gelato. The flavour is released The milk companies separate the cream from the
when the ice crystals melt. The melting speed determines rest of the milk. The milk is pasteurised to assure the
the time that a bite of gelato stays in your mouth and hygienic standards and the cream is homogenised
you experience the taste. How quickly the ice crystals and pasteurised. Then the necessary amount of fat
melt is determined, among other things, by the amount is added to the milk to obtain whole milk (3.5% fat),
of air in the gelato and the amount of stabiliser. Semi-skimmed milk (1.8% fat) or skimmed milk (0.2%
During the freezing of the gelato, many air bubbles are fat). That way, standardised milk is always identical.
screwed in, on average about 30% to 40%. When eating Homogenization is an important step in the production
gelato, these air bubbles slow down heat transfer, making it cycle of milk. During the homogenization process, pressure
melt less quickly and feel less cold. A stabiliser slows down is used to press the milk fat through small pores. The
the melting rate by slowing the flow properties of the water. large fat globules are reduced, as a result of which the
If the ice crystals melt too quickly, a lot of water will be small fat globules no longer clump together and remain
released quickly resulting in a quick drop of temperature in floating in the milk. Instead of a lump of fat on top of
your mouth. Due to the low temperature, you experience the milk, the fat is completely distributed throughout
the taste less, which is also further diluted by the the whole milk. Almost all milk, including organic, is
amount of water that is released. The watery melted homogenised nowadays. Because of a better distribution
substance then quickly washes away, cheating you of the fat globules in the milk, they also distribute
out of the desired experience. When ice crystals melt better throughout the gelato mix. This results in a more
too slowly, the opposite is the case. Too little melting stable final product, more air incorporation (overrun),
water makes it harder to swallow the gelato, leaving it and a creamy mouthfeel. This stability is important,
in your mouth for too long and thus creating a negative especially when the shelf life has to be a little longer.
taste effect. The correct melting rate and the melted Milk is not just milk, it is consists of different
gelato viscosity are therefore essential to undergo the components. When balancing a gelato recipe, it is
full flavour experience. Bottom line: water is not just important to know what the milk is composed of.
water, but a very important ingredient in the gelato.
Standardised whole milk 3.5% fat
Milk Water 87.9%
Traditionally, milk is one of the core ingredients for making Fat 3.5%
gelato. Cow’s milk, to be more exact.
Other dairy milks, such as buffalo milk, sheep milk and Milk proteins 3.5%
goat milk, can also be used for making gelato. Each
of these has its own specifications in composition and
Lactose 4.6%
taste. For non-dairy gelato, milk substitutes such as Minerals and vitamins 0.5%
soy-, oat-, almond-, rice- and coconut drinks are often
used. All of these sources have their own properties
UHT Milk
in the final gelato in terms of flavour and consistency
as well. What they all have in common is that they The name UHT Milk is short for ‘Ultra High Temperature’,
are the main source of water in a gelato recipe. which means the milk has been sterilised at a temperature
of 138°C for 1 second. This process was developed in
the 1960’s, but came to practise in the 70’s. Not only
Raw milk
milk goes through this process, it is also applied to fruit
(Cow’s)milk is not always the same. The most natural juices, yoghurt, wines and soups. The main purpose
version of milk is raw milk. This milk is untreated and of this process is to extend the shelf life of the milk.
contains all the vitamins, minerals and flavours that Unopened packages of UHT have a shelf life of up to 6
the cow put in. This milk characterises itself by a fuller months. This is ideal for countries where fresh milk isn’t
mouthfeel and a higher fat- and protein content than always available, or for the Gelatiere to have in store for
treated milk. The amount of fat and lactose changes emergencies during busy days. The downside of this type
by the season and therefore the Gelatiere often has to of preparation is the cooked flavour it carries. Because of
change the recipes in order to be accurate. In every the sterilisation, the lactose in the milk burns and gives the
country there are different rules and regulations about milk a cooked flavour. Also, because of all the treatments
the use, pasteurisation, and storage of raw milk.

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 Avocado
For 10 pieces Use a hand blender to mix the ingredients for the praline
Ingredients: and soy sauce gelato. Leave the mixture to rest for a bit
150 g dark chocolate and then churn it to gelato in the batch freezer. Transfer
3 g sunflower oil the whole to a piping bag and pipe the gelato into half-
sphere baking mats. Freeze until solid before unmoulding.
For the praliné and soy sauce gelato:
900 g white base Use the hand blender to mix the ingredients for the
90 g Callebaut praliné 50% avocado gelato. Leave the mixture to rest for a bit
10 g soy sauce and then churn it to gelato in the batch freezer.

For the avocado gelato: Melt the dark chocolate along with the sunflower oil and
600 g avocado pulp apply it to the avocado moulds. Shake out the excess
154 g water chocolate and allow some time until the chocolate in
80 g condensed milk the moulds has set well. Pipe the avocado gelato into
80 g granulated sugar the chocolate-lined moulds and press in the praline
45 g dextrose gelato. Briefly freeze and then remove from the mould.
30 g inulin powder
10 g fresh lime juice Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Briefly bake the pecan nuts
1 g salt in the sugar syrup, drain them well and distribute them on
a baking mat. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven.
For the candied pecan nuts:
200 g pecan nuts Serve the avocado halves with the candied pecan nuts.
Sugar syrup 70% with infused spices

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