For the holidays, my godparents gave me an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. I’ve been wanting to make homemade ice cream, sorbet, and gelato for ages! Now that I had a mixer, I could start looking up recipes…Honestly, a lot of them intimidate me because they have eggs and egg yolks and you have to cook them a certain way and there’s so many ways you can screw up the mix. So I took inspiration from a recipe I found on Epicurious and played around with it to come up with this egg-free strawberry orange gelato recipe that has a hint of vanilla.

Fair warning – making gelato is a two day process, but it’s worth it! You just need to plan ahead.

You start by making a simple syrup with water, white sugar, honey, vanilla bean, and a bit of salt. I use about an inch of a whole vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. As you boil the syrup, the flavor of the vanilla infuses with everything. It will turn into a pale amber color from both the honey and vanilla. Once the syrup is done, you let it cool fully.

After the syrup has cooled, transfer it into a large glass bowl or a container that makes it easy to pour the mixture into your ice cream maker. I used a 2 quart glass measuring cup. After the syrup is in the bowl, add orange zest and orange juice, then mix it well.

Next, add the pureed strawberries and mix it well before adding your heavy whipping cream and half-and-half cream. Whisk it all together to ensure that it’s well combined.

Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight. This will ensure that all the fruit flavors infuse into the cream and to make sure the mixture is fully chilled. I always let it sit overnight since the mixing bowl of my ice cream maker has to sit 24 hours in the freezer.

After it’s been chilled, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and let it churn away for 18 to 20 minutes. It doesn’t look like much at first, but it doubles in size. And I know it’s hard to resist the urge to scrape the sides or help the ice cream maker along, but leave it alone and let the machine work its magic!

Once it’s done, transfer it into a freezer safe container. You can eat it now if you like a soft-serve consistency. If you want it firmer, pop it into the freezer for three to four hours. It should be eaten within two weeks for the best flavor, but it can last for several months.

No Egg Strawberry Orange Gelato

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 teaspoons honey
• approximately 1 inch of a whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups fresh strawberry puree
• zest from 1 medium sized orange
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
• 1 cup half & half (cream)

Steps:

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Place into a small saucepan with  the water, sugar, honey, and salt. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Keep the mixture boiling until it reduces to about ¾ cup of syrup.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool completely to room temperature. Take out the whole pieces of the vanilla bean pod and discard.
3. Pour the syrup into a large, clean container and add the orange zest and juice. Mix well.
4. Add in the strawberry puree and mix well.
5. Whisk in the heavy (whipping) cream and half & half (cream) until fully combined.
6. Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight.
7. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and mix for 18 to 20 minutes.

Look at how pretty it is! You can see the bits of the strawberry, the orange zest, and the vanilla beans through out the gelato. The colors and flavors are all natural! If you want to add chopped pieces of strawberries to the gelato, add them in during the last two minutes of mixing in the ice cream maker.