Stracciatella

Fior di latte with thin shards of dark chocolate, formed right in the machine from melted chocolate.

Stracciatella was invented in 1961 by Enrico Panattoni in Bergamo. He poured hot chocolate into almost-finished fior di latte and the machine’s paddles tore it into irregular flakes — hence the name (stracciare = to tear). The chocolate sets instantly in the cold gelato, so the shards are thin and delicate rather than hard chunks.

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)
  • 80 g dark chocolate 70 % (for topping or folding in at the end, melted, lukewarm)

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. Just before churning, melt the chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave and let it cool until lukewarm (about 35 °C). It must stay runny.

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. During the last 2 minutes of churning, pour the chocolate in a thin stream straight onto the turning paddle. It sets at once and the paddle breaks it into flakes.
  5. Transfer to a chilled tub, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer for 1–2 hours.

Total time: 7 h 35 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. During the last minute, with the machine running, pour the chocolate into the gelato in a thin stream.
  5. Transfer to a chilled tub, press cling film onto the surface and leave to harden in the freezer 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 25 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. Use a spoon to make a well in the centre right down to the bottom, pour in the lukewarm chocolate and run the Mix-in programme. The chocolate sets against the cold gelato and breaks up.
  5. Serve straight away. Level off whatever is left, refreeze it and process it again before the next serving.

Programme: Gelato

For stracciatella in the CREAMi, 40–50 g of chocolate per tub is enough.

Total time: 29 h 5 min

Stages

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

Serving and storage

Classically in a cone, or with strawberries. 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.

Tips

  • The chocolate must be runny but not hot — if it is too warm it will briefly melt the gelato and the shards will be thick.
  • A teaspoon of neutral oil or cocoa butter in the chocolate makes the shards thinner and more delicate.
  • Finely chopped chocolate gives a different result — hard bits instead of flakes.

Sources