brunosdream

What could be more refreshing than a nice bowl of

ice cream (or gelato) on a hot summer day? Well,

actually I can think of a few things… but I digress.

Anyhow, here’s what I have to offer: Almond gelato

w/ crumbled Amaretti cookies and dark chocolate

chunks, and bing cherry madeleines. Grab your

spoon and dig in!!

I had to search in 5 different specialty food stores

for key ingredients, finally finding the Amaretti

cookies in an Italian food store on The Hill.

Surprisingly, they didn’t carry amarena cherries

which I had originally wanted to use for my

madeleines.

Gelato

8 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 quart half + half

6 tablespoons almond extract

1.5 oz crumbled Amaretti cookies

1.5 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped)

Procedure

1) In medium saucepan heat half + half and almond

extract gently to a simmer, then turn off heat

2) In medium size mixing bowl combine egg yolks

and sugar and beat together until pale yellow

3) Beat 2 tablespoons of the warm half + half into

the egg mixture (do this slowly to avoid curdling the

eggs), then beat in the remaining half + half little by little

4) Place bowl over a pot of simmering water and cook over

a gentle heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats

the back of a spoon (do not let temperature exceed 170

degrees or mixture will start to curdle)

5) Cool in an ice bath

6) Chill mixture in fridge for at least 4 hours

7) Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s

instructions, adding the crumbled Amaretti and chopped

chocolate towards the end of churning

8) Tranfer gelato to a 2 qt plastic container, cover top w/

parchment paper cut to size (this will reduce air exposure

and prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of

gelato), and freeze until firm

Yield: Approx. 1 ½ quarts

Madeleines (recipe adapted from Gourmet Oct. 2004)

12  tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for

greasing molds

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup dried bing cherries

1/4 cup cognac

2 pinches salt

** special equipment: a madeleine pan w/

2 3/4 by 1 3/4 inch molds

Procedure

1) Soak cherries overnight in cognac then simmer

over low heat for 5 minutes and let cool

2) Remove cherries from remaining liquid and chop

finely

3) Sift together flour, baking powder and 2 pinches of salt

4) Whisk together sugar and eggs until well combined

5) Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined, then stir

in butter, chopped cherries and remaining cherry liquid until

just incorporated

6) Chill batter for 1 hour

7) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

8) Brush molds w/ butter

9) Spoon batter into molds, filling them about two thirds full

10) Bake 5 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake

another 5 minutes until springy to the touch and edges

are nicely browned

11) Loosen from molds, turn out onto a rack and let cool

12) Let molds cool and repeat process until batter runs out

Yield: Approx. 70 madeleines

Notes: Madeleines are best when eaten the same day.

If you don’t want to bake all the madeleines the same

day, you can refrigerate the batter and finish baking the

following day.

Now chill out and enjoy your hot summer afternoon!!

Bruno