Creamy & Delicious Mango Gelato Recipe

Creamy and decadent homemade mango gelato recipe that is easy to make. A perfect summer frozen treat that is packed with ripe mango flavor.

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Ice creams are our family favorite summer treat. I love making them at home, so we can enjoy some unusual flavors like this fresh peach ice cream.

Gelato vs Ice cream

Gelato is the Italian word for Ice cream. The difference between the two is that gelato has much less air incorporated because it is churned much slower.

Also gelato uses more milk than cream, so it has less fat than ice cream. Here's a good read from Serious eats about the difference ice cream and gelato.

The best mango gelato I tasted was on the boardwalk in Savannah, GA. It had the perfect mango taste, creamy and absolutely decadent.

This is my take on that. Recipe is adapted from King Arthur flour newsletter.

Ingredients

The main ingredient for this recipe is the Mangoes. I have made with recipe using fresh ripe mangoes. But the variety we get here in the US are quite fibrous. They do not blend into a smooth paste. So here are the alternatives:

1. Frozen mango chunks - this has no added sugar and is available all year round in almost every grocery store. Thaw and grind to a smooth puree.
2. Frozen mango puree - might have added sugar, check the label. I got Kesar mango puree from Indian grocery and it was absolutely delicious.
3. Canned mango pulp - has added sugar and is widely available in Indian grocery stores. I recommend alphonso & kesar mango pulp.

Then you need milk, either whole or 2% would work. You also need some heavy cream to make the recipe rich and decadent.

Dry milk powder is the key to get the smooth texture to the gelato. Milk and heavy cream are mostly comprised of water. The milk powder absorbs that excess water and makes this frozen treat milkier and creamier. Otherwise it would be icy and grainy.

Orange liqueur or vodka - optional but highly recommended. In addition to adding flavor, alcohol prevents the ice cream/ gelato to freeze too hard. Which in turn results in a creamy, scoopable treat.

Egg yolks give the ice cream body. They also make it creamy and give it stability.

Other ingredients you need are sugar and salt. I add a tiny bit of ground cardamom because it complements the mango flavor beautifully.

You will need a ice cream machine to make this frozen treat. I love my Cuisinart ice cream maker. It is one of my favorite appliance which I have been using for years without any problems.

Instructions

This mango gelato recipe uses classic French style custard base. Which means dairy, sugar, egg yolks are first cooked until creamy. Then the mixture is chilled before churning in the ice cream machine.

To start whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until creamy and smooth. Set aside.

In a medium size saucepan, combine milk, sugar, milk powder, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to simmer.

Then temper the eggs by gradually pouring some of the hot milk mixture into the bowl with egg yolks, whisking as you pour. Stir to combine, then transfer the entire mixture back into the saucepan.

Place the saucepan back on the stove. Cook the custard over medium-low heat for a 2~3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until it thickens a bit and starts to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the heavy cream.

Stir in the mango mixture along with ground cardamom (if using) into the custard. Mix well, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 4-6 hours or overnight preferred.

Follow your ice cream maker instructions and churn the gelato until thick, at the very end of the churning, add the liqueur and churn until well mixed.

Transfer into an airtight freezer safe container and ENJOY!!

Here are my favorite containers to store homemade mango gelato - Tovolo glide-a-scoop and Tovolo ice cream tub.

No Ice cream? No problem

If you do not have an ice cream maker? No worries. The Kitchn posted 7 ways of making ice cream without an appliance.

They recommend using a food processor to make the most creamy ice cream. The second best is to use a whip the custard base with a hand mixer in an ice bath.

Tips

• Defrost the frozen mango chunks by either leaving them at room temperature or in the microwave.
• In a blender, puree mango chunks with lemon juice until almost smooth.
• If using fresh ripe mangoes, then peel, chop and grind to a paste. Then pass it through a sieve to make it smooth and creamy. Skip this step if using Asian style mangoes.
• Preferably use whole fat powdered milk, but nonfat will work as well.
• Make sure to temper the eggs with little bit of hot milk mixture to prevent scrambling the eggs.

More yummy treats with mango

• Fruit Salad made with Mango custard
• Kesar Mango Phirni
• Batido (Tropical Mango & Passion fruit smoothie)
• Thai sticky rice with mango
• Mango juice concentrate