Panettone Gelato

It’s the moment everyone has been waiting for! I finally got my butt into gear and whipped up a batch of panettone gelato—thank the unbearably scalding weather and lack of air conditioning for that!

Because I am a panettone freak, I still have quite the stockpile of Christmas cakes hanging around in my cupboards. Given that it’s now been a few months since panettone and colomba season, I figured it was time to revisit a favourite familiar flavour. And what better way to do that than with a cold yet Christmas treat? Pay no attention to the fact that it’s June...

I first had panettone gelato in November of last year from one of the beloved ice cream shops in Bra, called Gelato I.G.P. I loved not only the custardy citrus base of their festive gelato, but the fact that it had actual pieces of the Christmas cake inside. While I’m currently ordering scoops of stracciatella and strawberry ghiaccioli, I.G.P.’s festive gelato flavour left me not only coming back for more, but inspired to create my own rendition.

Though I mention time and time again, I have a slight (huge) intolerance to lactose, with the help of Lactaid, I’ve been enjoying all the formaggi and gelati with little consequence...except for the bloating, but I’ll blame that on the heat! In fact, all this warm weather has meant a day without gelato is like a day in Dante’s Inferno. To combat the sun’s rays, it’s only right to keep popping lactose pills and living my best Italian life!

If you want to feel like you’re living la dolce vita alongside me then this is a great recipe that brings together my favourite things about both winter and summer. While you may not have panettone laying around like I do, you can always capture the same tasty flavours by adding some rehydrated raisins and candied orange zest to the gelato base. However, I’d advise buying a spare panettone (or even colomba) around the next holiday season just to have—and that’s advice from a certified gastronome!

One tipI’ll share with you guys is that as the gelato mixture continues to freeze and set, it’ll become harder to scoop, so make sure that you leave it outside of the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes to thaw for an easier scoop. Also, I typically store my gelato in a large airtight plastic container, the gelato is only about an inch in width, meaning that I can cut little squares and make an ice cream sandwich with two cookies if I please also!

However you dress it up, I invite you to give this gelato a go and let me know what you think below!

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Panettone Gelato

* Makes 8 servings *

INGREDIENTS

• 1 L heavy cream

• 395 g tin of sweetened condensed milk

• 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

• 1/2 panettone

METHOD

1. Whisk cream, milk and vanilla bean together until blended. Pour into a large plastic container.

2. Tear panettone into pieces and sprinkle pieces into the gelato base.

3. Cover the container and leave in freezer to set for at least 5 hours or overnight.