Week 18: Eat Pink! - Strawberry Gelato

So this weeks ice cream seemed destined to be. A co-worker or mine Tracy, is a regular follower of my blog, so I often let her choose the flavors. FYI - You can all have a say too, just write something - Hello even;) Anyway she is on vacation this week and so we decided upon Strawberry Gelato, because she absolutely hates strawberries. Real ones, fake ones, doesn't matter. But it occurred to me that this is the perfect ice cream for Breast Cancer month because its PINK! So I am going to make an attempt to make only pink colored ice creams this month. I dont know why this didn't occur to me a week earlier when I made chocolate. I may have to stray away from the book because I don't think there is much left of that color. So if you have a pink (or pinkish) colored ice cream you would like, please suggest it.  


I feel the need to write this blog not just for the people I work with, even though they are the ones taste testing. It was my original intent and I've kind of lost sight of that. So for those of you who have not had a chance to taste this lovely creation I will do my best to describe its loveliness. Its a beautiful shade of blush pink. Its a real pink make from real strawberries not fake pink food coloring you can see and of course taste the difference. This came out with a nice texture, since its a gelato there are more eggs and milk than cream. The strawberry juice adds to the creaminess making it seem richer even though there isn't a lot of cream. I used frozen strawberries (dont hate me for cheating) but it was easier and cheaper than buying fresh strawberries now. In hindsight this worked better to make a thicker mixture. The syrupy consistency of the frozen strawberry juice is thicker and probably more flavorful. I chose a frozen package with just strawberries and sugar - thats it. I didn't want additives that would make it taste fake. The one downfall in the texture is that the fruit gets a bit frozen throughout the gelato. Its not because I used frozen (mine were thoroughly thawed), I can see fresh doing that too. Maybe it would have been better if I had made a strawberry puree instead of keeping the sliced pieces of strawberries in it. But since the strawberries were sweetened I didn't add any additional sugar and it isn't too sweet (which I prefer). The minute ice cream tastes too sweet I think you loose the true flavor of the ingredients. Homemade ice cream should taste fresh and look beautiful. This does both!

I find useless knowledge fun. But you never know when something you thought was useless serves a purpose one day. So here we go.

facts about strawberries

from strawberries.com

·       Learn how to keep strawberries fresh.

·       There are over 20 named species of strawberry plants.

·       The Garden strawberry is the most common type of strawberry grown commercially.

·       The US strawberry industry is over $1.2 billion dollars annually, and strawberry festivals are very popular.

·       The United States is the top strawberry producing country in the world, followed by Spain.

·       Strawberries are “accessory” fruits.

·       The typical modern strawberry is a hybrid from both North and South America.

·       Learn more about strawberry genetics here.

·       The strawberry was considered poisonous in Argentina until the mid-1800′s.

·       Many Lepidopterans (butterflies, moths, and skinners) are known to feed on strawberry plants.

·       The word strawberry is derived from the Old English word “streawberige”.

·       One cup of strawberries (144 grams) contains approximately 45 calories.

·       Click here for strawberry nutrition facts.

I want to add more into my blog posts. They get boring when I just rattle on about the taste of the ice cream. If you have suggestions of what you would like to know about ice cream or ice cream making. Feel free to ask:)

I will be donating the cost of supplies to make this months pink ice creams to Susan G. Komen. 

Lets support Breast Cancer Awareness Month and eat pink ice cream!