What Is The Difference Between Ice Cream and Gelato?
on August 3, 2022
When it comes to frozen treats served at candy franchise, Americans are in love with ice cream. Ice cream in this country dates all the way back to 1770, when the first ice cream parlors were opened in New York City. Of course, ice cream had been invented long before that, but its exact origins are unknown.
In the meantime, Italians were enjoying their own kind of frozen treat, called gelato. Gelato in Italy came about during the Italian Renaissance, when architect Bernardo Buontalenti officially developed it into a treat that was served at a banquet in honor of the King of Spain.
What is Ice Cream?
Ice cream is a concoction made up of milk, sugar and cream. These ingredients are blended, churned and then frozen for several hours. If the churning stage is eliminated, all that would be achieved is a frozen block of a milky blend. The churning process breaks the ice crystals down so they’re smaller, and introduces air into the mixture.
Flavors and extra ingredients are often added before churning in order to produce ice cream favorites such as pistachio, butter pecan, chocolate fudge, strawberry and more.
Upon serving, many Americans enjoy adding even more ingredients to a dish of ice cream, including hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream, nuts, sprinkles and other “embellishments,” which add flavor and texture.
How is Ice Cream Different From Gelato?
Gelato is similar to ice cream only in that it is a frozen dairy treat. Gelato is the Italian version of ice cream, but it’s quite different.
Texture – Gelato is much richer and denser than ice cream. Ice cream could be described as being creamier and more milky than gelato.
Ingredients – Traditional gelato recipes call for a much larger ratio of milk to cream than ice cream does. Ice cream contains more cream and less milk, whereas gelato has more milk and less cream.
Also, gelato contains only between four and nine percent of butterfat. Ice cream has 14 to 25 percent butterfat.
Due to the differences in processing, ice cream contains more air than gelato. This is a big reason why gelato ends up being the denser of the two treats.
Temperature – Finally, gelato is traditionally served at about 10 degrees warmer than ice cream.
Whether you’re serving up ice cream or gelato, your customers will love you for it. Why not taste what it’s like to start a sweet confectionary franchise in your area? Contact River Street Sweets to learn more.