Blueberry Gelato

The History of Gelato dates back to the 16th century. There is some confusion in the origin as to where or who really invented gelato. As most stories go, it is credited to Bernardo Buontalenti, a native of Florence, who delighted the court of Catherina dei Medici with his creation. Italians are certainly credited with introducing gelato to the rest of Europe; with Sicilian born Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli who undoubtedly was one of the most influential individuals in the history of gelato, as one of the first to sell it to the public. Summoned to Paris in 1686, he opened a café named after himself called “Café Procope”, which quickly became one of the most celebrated haunts of the literary establishment in France. In Italy meanwhile, the art of traditional gelato making was passed on from father to son, improved and perfected right up to the 20th century, when many gelato makers began to emigrate, taking their know-how to the rest of Europe.

Blueberry Gelato

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 250g Blueberries 
• 2 tablespoons (16 gr) cornflour
• juice from 1/2 a  fresh lemon or lime

Method

1. Place blueberries, sugar and 1 teaspoon of water in a pan on a very low heat until sugar has dissolved.
2. Cook blueberries until soft but still retain their shape (approx 5 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and add lemon or lime juice and cool overnight in fridge or until completely cold.
4. Mix together 1 cup of milk and corn flour together till smooth.
5. Heat rest of milk in a pan.
6. Just before the milk boils remove from the heat and stir in the corn flour.
7. Once thoroughly mixed return pan to the heat and cook on a low heat, stirring constantly for a few minutes until milk thickens. It is important to cook out the flavour of the corn flour otherwise the gelato will taste floury.
8. Remove from heat and chill in fridge overnight or until completely cold.
9. Next day, blend 2/3 of the blueberries until smooth and keep 1/3 aside.  
10. Mix together the thickened milk, blended blueberries and whole blueberries in a bowl.
11. Transfer the mix into ice cream maker and process according to manufacturers instructions. 
12. Keeps well of a week (if you can keep it that long!) but after that it will form too many ice crystals.