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Gelato
With so many wonderful gelato choices, you’re obligated to have more than one flavor!

Ice Cream & Sorbet

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July 2005
Updated September 2009

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Ice Cream & Sorbet

Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts Glossary

Terms & Definitions: G

This is Page 2 of a five-page glossary, featuring terms such as gelato, glace and granita.

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Gelato. Gelato is Italian-style ice cream. It is made from water, milk and/or soy milk, combined with flavorings, sweeteners, and a stabilizing agent. Gelato comes from the Italian word for “frozen.” Traditionally, it has had two major points of differentiation from American ice cream: density and butterfat. Unlike ice cream, gelato machinery whips almost no air into the product (i.e., much less overrun), resulting in a dense and more intensely-flavored product. For example, American brand Ciao Bella Gelato contains 20% air by volume (overrun) compared to Capogiro Gelato 60% in most American brands. Gelato is often described as having less fat because it’s made with milk and only a little cream, whereas ice cream generally contains more cream than milk. However, there are two chinks in the armor of this traditional description. First, U.S. ice cream industry professionals dispute this because there is no U.S. standard of identity for gelato—see the NOTE below. In addition, according to a report in Dairy Foods magazine,* as there is no longer one style of ice cream in America, there is no longer one style of gelato in Italy: the style of gelato varies significantly by region. The magazine reports that in the south, particularly in Sicily, gelato is made with milk and no egg yolks, and sometimes includes a thickener such as cornstarch—the “classic” style. However in central Italy, for example, Tuscany, it is made from a milk and egg custard; in the north, it is very rich, as northern Italians use cream and eggs to make their gelato—a French custard style. But no matter what the recipe, all gelati have little or no overrun, the air that is whipped into traditional American ice creams to give it a lighter texture. As a result, gelato is denser than traditional American ice cream, and this density produces a more heightened flavor.

*“2004 Ice Cream Outlook,” by Donna Berry, Dairy Foods, March, 2004. Photo from Capogiro Gelato Artisans.

To proceed with the “classic” description, Italian gelato typically has 4% to 8% butterfat, although Ciao Bella Gelato, a leading U.S., brand, has 12% butterfat. U.S. ice cream must have a minimum of 10% butterfat, and superpremium ice creams in the U.S. have a butterfat content of 15% to 18%. The greater amount of butterfat in ice cream tends to coat the tongue and the taste buds. The lower butterfat level of gelato allows more of the flavor of the fruits, nuts, chocolate et al to shine through. In addition, gelato recipes tend to have a higher proportion of flavoring than ice cream. The end result is heightened flavor.

NOTE: According to Drs. Bruce Tharp and Steven Young, who teach ice cream industry professionals the science of making ice cream, the “lower fat and calories” descriptor often accorded to gelato is erroneous. There is no government standard of identity for gelato in the U.S., and the fat level in gelatos vary as much as those in conventional ice creams. The calories per gram are in the same range as ice cream: in fact, the lower overrun of gelato often produces higher-calorie level per serving than in conventional, high over run, ice cream because of its increased weight per serving associated with the lower overruns. We have observed products calling themselves “gelato” that have the same calorie count as superpremium ice cream—e.g., 230 calories per 1/2 cup serving—and list cream before milk on the ingredients label—“northern Italian style.” But with all that cream and egg custard, they taste like superpremium ice cream, not gelato. They may have low overrun, but so do superpremium ice creams. They’re simply not a “gelato experience.”

On a related note, we have observed anecdotally that some of the finest artisan gelato is not dense—the texture is ethereal. When we asked Jon Snyder of Il Laboratorio del Gelato in New York City why his gelato was not “textbook dense,” he replied that typically, gelato in italy is more dense for two reasons. The Italian machines tend to churn the product at a slower speed, thereby lessening the air intake. Also, Italians traditionally use recipes, with more milk and less cream, that take on less air and are more dense (milk doesn’t whip up like cream does).