Pear & Dark Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato
Pear & Dark Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato
Stracciatella Gelato • Approx. 1 litre
Ingredients
- 600 ml full-cream milk
- 150 ml thickened cream
- 50 g skim milk powder
- 100 g glucose syrup
- 60 g caster sugar
- ½ tsp guar gum
- Small pinch of salt
- 1½ tsp FlavourArt (FA) Pear, to start, increasing gradually up to around 2 tsp to taste
- 100 g dark chocolate, ideally 60–70%
- 1 tsp neutral oil or coconut oil
Optional to serve: Dark chocolate sauce, fresh pear wedges and dark chocolate curls
Method
- Combine the dry ingredients - Mix the caster sugar, skim milk powder and guar gum together thoroughly.
- Make the base - Warm the milk, cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Gradually whisk in the dry mixture and salt. Cook gently for about 2 minutes, whisking, until smooth and very slightly thickened.
- Chill & flavour - Cool completely, then stir in 1½ tsp FA Pear. Taste the mixture cold and increase gradually if needed. The unfrozen base should taste slightly stronger than you want the finished gelato. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Churn - Churn according to your machine instructions until thick and soft-serve-like. Do not add the chocolate to the machine.
- Prepare the stracciatella - Melt the dark chocolate with the oil until smooth. Allow it to cool slightly so it remains fluid but is no longer hot.
- Create the chocolate shards - Transfer the finished pear gelato to a chilled container. Immediately drizzle over a very thin stream of melted chocolate, then fold through once or twice with a spatula. The chocolate should set on contact and crack into fine shards. Repeat in 2–3 light layers.
- Firm - Cover and freeze for around 4–6 hours, or until firm enough to scoop.
To Serve
Finish with a restrained drizzle of dark chocolate sauce, fresh pear and dark chocolate curls. Keep the pear as the hero.
Notes
FA Pear gives a clear pear profile without adding the extra water of fresh pear purée.
Adding the stracciatella after churning keeps hardened chocolate away from the machine’s dispensing mechanism and moving parts.
A very fine chocolate stream creates delicate shards that melt quickly in the mouth rather than hard, frozen chunks.
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