Amarena gelato (sour cherries)

Fior di latte rippled with homemade “amarena” sour-cherry sauce — sweet-and-sour streaks through a milky gelato.

Amarena is the Italian name for sour cherries cooked in a thick syrup. Gelaterias use them to “variegate” — they are layered into white gelato so that dark red streaks appear as you scoop. At home you can cook the sauce from fresh or frozen sour cherries; thanks to its high sugar content it won’t set hard in the freezer.

Type: Italian gelato · Servings: 8 · Difficulty: Moderate

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 620 g whole milk 3.5 %
  • 170 g whipping cream 33 %
  • 40 g skimmed milk powder (milk solids = body without extra fat)
  • 140 g granulated sugar (sucrose)
  • 45 g dextrose (glucose powder)
  • 2 g locust bean gum (carob gum, E410) (or 3 g of ready-made gelato stabiliser)
  • 1 g guar gum (E412)
  • 300 g sour cherries (pitted) (for topping or folding in at the end, fresh or frozen, pitted)
  • 150 g granulated sugar (sucrose) (for topping or folding in at the end)
  • 10 g lemon juice (fresh) (for topping or folding in at the end)

Making the mix

  1. Mix the locust bean gum and guar gum thoroughly with the dry sugars (granulated sugar and dextrose). On their own they would form lumps as soon as they get wet.
  2. Pour the milk, cream and milk powder into a pan and heat while whisking. When the mixture is lukewarm (about 40 °C), gradually add the sugars and whisk until they dissolve.
  3. Heat the mix to 85 °C (check with a thermometer) and hold it at that temperature for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly. This pasteurises the mix and fully hydrates the stabiliser.
  4. Stand the pan in a bowl of iced water and cool the mix below 5 °C as quickly as possible, stirring now and then.
  5. Cover and leave the mix to age in the fridge for 4–12 hours, ideally overnight. Meanwhile the proteins and stabiliser bind water and the mix thickens.
  6. Sauce: simmer the sour cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a pan for 15–20 minutes until the syrup thickens (a drop on a cold plate doesn’t run). Chill in the fridge.

Method — Compressor ice cream maker

  1. Switch the ice cream maker on 5–10 minutes in advance so the bowl can pre-chill.
  2. Give the aged mix a quick blitz with a stick blender and pour it into the bowl, no higher than the max line.
  3. Churn for about 30–40 minutes, until the gelato is thick and glossy and clings to the paddle. Then switch the machine off — churning any longer would only whip in unnecessary air.
  4. Layer the gelato and a few spoonfuls of sauce alternately in a chilled tub, then draw a knife through once or twice. Cover with cling film and leave to harden for 1–2 hours.

Total time: 7 h 55 min

Method — Freezer-bowl ice cream maker

  1. Take the bowl, frozen for at least 24 hours, out of the freezer just before use, fit the paddle and switch the machine on.
  2. With the machine running, pour in the well-chilled, freshly blended mix — filling the bowl no more than two-thirds full.
  3. Churn for 20–30 minutes, until the gelato thickens to a soft-serve consistency. There is no point going longer — by then the bowl has warmed up.
  4. Layer the gelato and sauce in a chilled tub, swirl gently with a knife, cover with cling film and leave to harden for 2–3 hours.

A freezer bowl only partly freezes the mix, so the gelato needs longer to harden in the freezer and tends to be slightly less smooth than from a compressor machine. A well-chilled, properly aged mix helps.

Total time: 8 h 45 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Pour the aged mix into the CREAMi tub up to the MAX line, put the lid on and freeze on a level surface for 24 hours.
  2. Fit the tub into the machine and run the Gelato programme (if your model doesn’t have it, use Ice Cream).
  3. If the gelato is powdery or crumbly, run Re-spin, and a second time if needed (many users add 1–2 tablespoons of milk first).
  4. Pour 3–4 tablespoons of sauce into a well in the centre and run Mix-in — this creates the streaks. Spoon the rest of the sauce on top.
  5. Serve straight away. Level off whatever is left, refreeze it and process it again before the next serving.

Programme: Gelato

Total time: 29 h 25 min

Stages

Preparation
20 min
Cooking
30 min
Cooling
30 min
Ageing in the fridge
4 h
Churning
35 min
Hardening in the freezer
2 h
Total time
7 h 55 min

Serving and storage

Top with a spoonful of cherries in syrup. Gelaterias keep it in the display case at −11 to −13 °C, while a home freezer runs at −18 °C — straight out of it, gelato is hard. So move the tub to the fridge 15–20 minutes before serving (or leave it at room temperature for 8–10 minutes) and work the gelato with a spatula before scooping, just as they do in a gelateria.

Artisan gelato is made to be eaten fresh: it is best on the day you make it and within 3–5 days. In a closed tub with cling film pressed onto the surface it will keep in the freezer for up to two weeks, but it gradually hardens and ice crystals build up. Keep any leftover sauce in a jar in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Tips

  • The sauce must be thick and cold. A thin sauce would freeze to ice in the gelato, and a warm one would melt it.
  • You can add 1 tablespoon of amaretto or kirsch to the sauce — but then the gelato is not for children.
  • A blackcurrant or blueberry sauce works in exactly the same way.

Why it works

The sauce is not mixed into the base, so it doesn’t change its balance — the composition shows the fior di latte only. Once cooked, the sauce is around 50 % sugar, so it stays soft like jam in the freezer and doesn’t form icy veins.

Sources