Chocolate Gelato (Sicilian Style)
What is gelato? Some might say gelato is just the Italian word for Ice Cream. While close, that wouldn’t be exactly accurate. There are two big differences between Italian gelato and American ice cream. The first is that gelato contains less butterfat; it is typically made with whole milk rather than cream (in some rare cases a combination of the two). Second is that it is churned slower which pumps less air into it than its American counterpart (I find that most home ice cream makers do a good job with gelato in this area).
This recipe is for a Sicilian style Chocolate Gelato, which is even further away from American ice cream than the gelato served in the north of Italy. Sicilian gelato contains neither cream nor egg; it uses as its base what is called a crema rinforzata, made from milk, sugar and cornstarch. The result is a gelato that is lighter and at the same time more intensely flavored than American ice cream or Northern Italian gelato (which is usually made from an egg based custard).
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The Three Things That Matter
Make a cornstarch slurry first. Don’t dump dry cornstarch straight into hot milk. Whisk it with a little cold milk into a smooth slurry, then stir that in. Dumped dry, it takes forever to dissolve and you get lumps. This is the single most common fix in the comments.
Don’t overcook the base, and don’t undercook it. The cornstarch base thickens slowly and needs near-constant stirring with a spatula that reaches the bottom of the pan. Too thin and the texture suffers; cook it too long and the starch “breaks” and loses its thickening. You’re aiming for a base that coats the back of a spoon, roughly 10 minutes.
Let the chilled base warm up before churning. After the overnight chill the base is very cold and almost set. If you pour it straight into the machine it can be too stiff for the paddle to turn. Let it sit out until it loosens to a thick, pourable custard, then churn.
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Chocolate Gelato (Sicilian Style)
- Total Time: 8 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole milk
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Place 2 cups of the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat when milk just begins to simmer.
- Add chocolate to the hot milk and stir in until completely melted.
- Combine remaining 1 cup of milk, cocoa powder, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl, then stir into hot milk and chocolate mixture.
- Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring until mixture thickens, approximately 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Chilling Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Substitutions
- Chocolate, dark vs. extra-dark. The recipe calls for 4 oz bittersweet. Readers report great results anywhere from 40% to 76% cocoa. For a more intense, less sweet gelato, use a higher percentage and add an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder. For a softer, sweeter result, stay around 50%.
- Whole milk vs. lower fat. Whole milk is correct and gives the silkiest texture. Several readers have made it with 2% in a pinch and still loved it. The cornstarch base is forgiving, but the lower the fat, the more the texture leans icy rather than creamy.
- Add a splash of cream (optional). Sicilian gelato is traditionally cream-free, and that’s the point of this recipe. If you specifically want a richer, more American texture, a reader added about 100 ml of cream with good results. It’s no longer authentic Sicilian, but it works.
- Sugar. Three quarters of a cup is moderate. Reduce slightly for a more bitter, adult chocolate, but don’t cut it too far, sugar also affects how soft the gelato stays in the freezer.
How to Make It Without an Ice Cream Maker
You can make this gelato without a machine. Pour the chilled base into a wide, shallow dish or glass bowl. Lay plastic wrap directly on the surface to stop ice crystals from forming, and freeze. After about 6 hours, give it a vigorous hand churn with a fork or whisk to break up the crystals, then return it to the freezer. It’s ready after another 6 hours or so. The texture is slightly less smooth than machine-churned, but readers report excellent results with this method.
FAQ
Not quite. Gelato is made with more milk and less (or no) cream than American ice cream, so it has less butterfat. It’s also churned more slowly, which whips in less air and gives gelato its dense, intense texture. This recipe is Sicilian style, which goes a step further with no cream and no eggs at all.
Sicilian gelato traditionally uses a base called crema rinforzata, made from milk, sugar, and cornstarch instead of an egg custard. The story is that Sicilians were too poor to use expensive cream or eggs in a dolce, so they thickened with starch. The result is lighter and, many would argue, more intensely chocolate than an egg-based gelato.
Yes. Freeze the chilled base in a shallow dish with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface, then hand-churn with a fork after about 6 hours and freeze again until set. See the no-machine method above for the full steps.
A good-quality bittersweet baking chocolate in the 40% to 70% range. Higher cocoa percentages give a more intense, less sweet gelato; lower percentages are softer and sweeter. Pairing the chocolate with the unsweetened cocoa powder is what gives the gelato its deep flavor.
Almost always one of two things: the cornstarch wasn’t dissolved into a smooth slurry before going into the hot milk, or the base was overcooked and the starch broke. Make a slurry first, stir constantly, and pull the base off the heat once it coats the back of a spoon.
Yes, that’s one of its best features. Keep the milk, sugar, and cornstarch base and swap the chocolate for coffee, peanut butter, cinnamon, or other flavorings. See the variations section above.
About Phil
Definitely want to make this!
Tried this recipe after previous ones I tried used cream ….. not really gelato if it’s cream I don’t think but still delizioso. I made this yesterday and churned today. Being UK based I tried converting the recipe to grams to make sure I git the right quantities.
All good and just needed a little extra corn starch/ flour to thicken.
Now in the freezer. A cheeky little taste before it went in it! Squisito!
While both gelato and ice cream contain cream, milk and sugar, there are differences, too. Authentic gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream and generally doesn’t use egg yolks, which are a common ingredient in ice cream
This gelato recipe makes a delicious, authentic chocolate gelato. I’ve made it a couple of times with different grades of chocolate and it has been smooth, chocolately and light. Even though my favorite is chocolate, now I have to look for different flavors to try as the rainbow of colors when I buy at a gelato stand is part of the attraction.
Hey Chris
I took the easy option and bought a couple of US measuring spoon and cup sets from Amazon.
Even Oz measurements differ in a couple of ways to UK’s.
I just made my gelato according to this recipe and it came out beautifully, really rich, soft, silky and smooth! The colour came out really lovely too.
So pleased to get rid of that egg taste in regular ice creams…
One thing that I’d add is that I did have to leave the ice cream reach room temperature after taking it out of the refrigerator, as it was mostly frozen and the ice cream maker couldn’t mix it.
Made this recipe a couple of times, it was my first try at gelato after traveling to Italy and realizing I needed to get some of this amazing stuff at home.
This method of heating with corn starch/maizena results in a very thick and super-smooth texture when using an ice cream machine, and the flavor was great when using a good quality baking chocolate of 40-50% cocoa.
Thanks for sharing this, recommended 🙂
Is this recipe for 1qt gelato or 2qt? Can’t wait to try it!
Hi. What is the difference of this gelato with no cream? And no eggs? Thanks.
Gelato typically doesn’t have cream therefore having less fat than ice cream. I’m pretty sure that Sicilian gelato is made without eggs and is instead made with cornstarch (as a thickener)
true
We have made this recipe several times, and it is incredibly rich, smooth, and delicious. We’ve even made it with 2% milk in a pinch when we ran out of whole. It was STILL amazing. It defies conventional wisdom that ice cream/ gelato has to be high in fat to be creamy and delicious. Thanks!
I have been trying a different gelato recipe every day for the week that I’ve owned my new gelato machine. This one, by far, comes the closest to what I remember in Italy. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to the world of “corn starch” gelato! And, the process for melting the chocolate is right on.
If I want to use your recipe as a base for other flavors (I’m thinking cinnamon will be my next endeavor), can I just remove the cholocate(s) from this recipe and add in cinnamon?
See WAY TOO EASY compared with the crazy corn syrup, eggs, cream concoctions that other recipes are calling for.
This is a simple and delicious recipe. It will be part of our regular gelato rotation.
Made this today and it’s by far the best gelato recipe I’ve tried. It’s creamy, delicious and all the family were impressed. The only thing I added was a teaspoon of decaf coffee. Best of all it’s so easy and quick to make. I will have to try other flavour combinations using this recipe as a base.
Thank you for sharing this truly excellent recipe! My whole family thinks it is the very best chocolate gelato (or ice cream) ever. We were fighting over the last few spoonsful last night. Just a perfect recipe, and much easier to make than a custard-based gelato recipe.
A great recipe, I tried many with and without eggs but this one is somehow the most reliable in outcome, there is not so much you can do wrong as with the egg based ones. Creamy and quite light in taste…really nice, so thank you for that!
I like extra dark chocolate, so I used 100gr of 76% chocolate+20gr of 85% and added more cocoa powder. Excellent!
For my boyfriend who is more about creaminess and sweet flavor rather than the chocolate I added to the above 100ml of cream. Approved as well, without knowing that there is less fat and sugar than in what he is used to make.
I used 3.5% milk and only 150gr. of sugar+2 tabs of sweetener.
Delicious recipe for gelato. I love that it is made without cream and still comes out silky smooth and creamy. Great flavor!
Oh so good. Very rich and creamy. I added some coffee chips when melting the chocolate (1/4 cup). Very easy and well worth the effort.
I made this yesterday. Instead of the chopped bitter sweet chocolate, I used a few tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. Wow was it delicious! I used an old fashioned ice cream maker with ice and rock salt and churned it for about 30 minutes. So unbeleivebly smooth. Can’t wait to try somethinelse soon.
Delicious. Make sure you mix the cornstarch with a little bit of milk to make a slurry before you just dump it in. It will take forever to dissolve
Made this yesterday and loved the result. Since my wife and I like less sweetness, I used 100% bitter chocolate. I did not used any ice cream maker. Just dumped the called down picture into a glass bowl. The covered with a plastic wrap, with the plastic touching the surface of the mixture, to prevent formation of ice crystals . Gave it a simple hand churn after freezing for about 6 hours and put it back in the freezer. It was ready to eat after another 6 hours in the freezer. Everybody loved it. Will try to use this technique for other flavors.
Really, really good! Smooth texture, chocolate flavor coats the entire tongue. I made the 3X version and added 3 Tbls of cooled espresso. My 6-qt White Mountain churned it perfectly. Thanks for an excellent recipe!
How can I make without an ice cream maker?? Is it possible?
Scroll down in this page until a part which says “Making Gelato by Hand”:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/authentic-gelato-recipe-4172134
I made the chocolate gelato recipe from the Italian Chef and finished it by hand using the technique in the link above.
Enjoy! 🙂
Sicilians were too poor to invest high value cream or eggs in a “dolce”, hence the simple sugar, milk, flavoring and thickener. I use one tablespoon of cornstarch for each cup of milk and “cook” the mix in a large capacity sauce pot with a heavy bottom (more uniform distribution of heat.) The arrowroot or cornstarch will thicken slowly, requiring close attention and continuous stirring, preferably with a large heat resistant spatula to keep the bottom clean. Getting the perfect thickness is a learned art – too thin and the texture suffers; cook it too long, the starch “breaks” and you lose any thickening you achieved. Chill the mix at least overnight at 40 degrees before moving on to the ice cream maker.
i should have done more research before i took the time to make this recipe.
i guess it’s a good option for folks wanting to avoid eggs and heavy cream.
i’m new to the gelato world and did not realize that leaving eggs out was not a typical gelato making practice.
(I even used a Breville on the gelato setting) and it had grainy texture and was not good.
Can you freeze in ice cube trays and then make in a viamux?
used 4 oz.milk chocolate chips, about 2 oz. semisweet chips and 2 oz. of espresso chips and while my whynter ice cream machine was mixing I added walnuts and vodka to stop ice crystals from forming and turned out incredible. My favorite so far and have made strawberry, lime and french vanilla as well.
My favorite recipe find for 2025 ~ absolutely perfect and *so much more than the simple ingredient list would have you believe! Thank you