Churn it up
MANILA, Philippines - The best thing about summer is we get to indulge in things that we normally don’t on regular days, like lazy summer beach days, TV/movie marathon sessions, and eating all the cold sweets we can get. Who wouldn’t? With this heat, it’s pretty much a health hazard not to.
Enter Carte D’Or Gelato, the UK’s No. 1 premium ice cream, which has finally made its Southeast Asian debut — and we’re already drooling over their flavor selection. It comes in salted caramel, double dark chocolate, pistachio and chocolate hazelnut. Each flavor is made with the finest and freshest ingredients sourced from locations where they’re made best. You can now say goodbye to guilty ice cream eating.
We learned about their gelato-making process at the Carte d’Or launch through chef Miko Aspiras (of Freezer Burn and Scout’s Honor), and we can guarantee it’s as straightforward as you can get. Here’s how they do it:
Step one: Source the goods
To be able to make good food, you have to start with fresh ingredients. In their case, they get their cream straight from Australia, chocolate from Belgium, pistachios from Southern Australia and California, and hazelnuts from Turkey. While not everyone can fly out to those places to harvest the goods, we can always improvise and choose the best ones available in the market.
Step two: Combine the ingredients
According to chef Miko, you only need five key ingredients in making good gelato: a gelato base, cream, salt, sugar, and your flavor of choice. We tried it with fresh pistachio pureé. After combining it in one container, use a hand mixer to smoothen the mixture.
Step three: Heat to pasteurize
Put the mixture in a pan and heat it up to pasteurize. This will ensure that the milk is free from all the bad bacteria. It will also make the gelato thicker and smoother.
Another crucial element in the process is the churning machine. This slowly “blends” the mixture at -32 degrees Celsius, hence also freezing it. It takes about 20 minutes for a five-liter mixture to be ready.
Step four: Add your dry ingredients and enjoy
What’s ice cream without any toppings? You can top off your gelato with anything you wish, but we’ve got to admit, we prefer the fresh stuff. We topped off our pistachio gelato with fresh pistachio bits.* * *
Carte D’Or Gelato is available in select supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide starting May 23. A 475mL tub goes for P295. Follow them on Instagram at @cartedorph.
Art by INA JACOBE
