Homemade gelatos are the best and my cranberry and eggnog gelato are perfect for the holiday season.
Each recipe will make a little more than a quart of homemade gelato, and depending upon how you serve it could be for 1 person or up to 6.
If you’ve never made ice cream or gelato, you really don’t know what your missing. To me, the big difference in gelato is the use of mostly milk instead of heavy cream. I do use some heavy cream to help with the consistency, but if you use too much heavy cream it becomes too heavy and instead of the intense flavors of the main ingredient, the cream and the sugar become the star of the show.
A gelato maker does not put as much air into the finished product as does an ice cream maker and this helps intensify the flavors. You will find gelato recipes that call for a custard don’t seem as flavorful as the easy version. What could be easier than mixing up your ingredients and in just a few minutes? After that, the machine does all the work.
If you love Gelato you might also like these recipes:
- Strawberry Gelato Recipe
- Strawberry Ricotta Gelato
- Meyer Lemon Gelato
- Blackberry and Mango Gelato Recipes
If you’ve tried my Gelato recipes or any other recipe on askchefdennis.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @chefdenniseats and @chefdennistravels, Twitter and Facebook.
Eggnog Gelato & Cranberry Gelato
Ingredients
Eggnog Gelato
- 2 Cups Eggnog very good quality
- 1 cup Heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoon Meyer’s Dark Rum optional
- 1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- ¾ cup sugar
Cranberry Gelato
- 2 cups whole berry cranberry sauce homemade
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Eggnog Gelato
- mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, using a wire whip to make sure all the sugar is dissolved.
- Add mixture to your ice cream or gelato maker and follow instructions from manufacturer for freezing.
- Place finished gelato into another container and freeze overnite for best results, or at least 2 hours if you can’t wait!
Cranberry Gelato
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, using a wire whip to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Add mixture to your ice cream or gelato maker and follow instructions from manufacturer for freezing.
- Place gelato into another container and allow to freeze overnight.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
- place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, allow to continue a slow boil for 5 minutes
- reduce heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, sauce will thicken
- allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then refrigerate over night.
- Cranberry sauce will become jellied when fully chilled.
Joann Molek
The cranberry gelato was the first recipe I tried with my new Cuisinart gelato/ice cream maker. Wow. The only thing I did different was use an immersion blender on the cranberries to make a smoother texture. Perfection. Can’t wait to try the eggnog gelato. I used to hate eggnog until I made it homemade for my stepson. I never knew what I was missing! YUM!
Chef Dennis Littley
great idea with the immersion blender on the cranberries. The egg nog gelato was one of my favorites, I hope you enjoy it. I have a few other gelato recipes on my site as well.
Chef D
just use the basic recipe and interchange the ingredients you have on hand, I’ve made strawberry, blackberry, mango, and lemon so far using the same recipe for the cranberry gelato.
thanks for stopping by!
Charlotte Julienne
Lovely blog and fantastic photos!
Chef D
Thank you!
Ruth
That machine looks incredible! I’ll definetely add it to my wish list! Thanks for the info 😉
Ruth
I love this recipe! What is the difference between a gelato and ice cream machine? I love gelato so much that I’m considering buying a machine to make it.
Chef D
hi Ruth
a gelato machine doesn’t put as much air into the mixture as an ice cream maker, I don’t think in the home versions it matters as much, but that’s really the only difference that I know about. I go the delonghi GM6000 and it really has been wonderful and was priced right.
nicole {sweet peony}
i had no idea there were even gelato makers… how fun! i’m loving these gelato flavors! the cranberry gelato is gorgeous! thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Nicole, RD
Ice cream/gelatos are so hard to photograph well…kudos! I just want to lick the screen clean! I didn’t realize there were special geltato makers…or that there was any difference, really. I am picking up some egg nog this week…I think this may be next on the list of sweet treats to make 🙂
In Katrina's Kitchen
I can practically taste this goodness through my computer screen! My 1 yr old is obsessed with homemade popsicles right now. Nevermind that it is almost December 🙂
Megan @ Pip and Ebby
I guess I’ve never known the difference between gelato and ice cream until now! Thanks for the info. And thanks for the great recipes! Easy and delicious!!
Liz
Note to self: Put gelato maker on my Christmas list so I can make Chef Dennis’ gelato.
Cassie (Bake Your Day)
I would love to have a gelato machine. This sounds just perfect! Great way to welcome the holidays.
Janet@FCTC
Chef, you don’t mind if I drool all over your blog do you?
I am an ice cream FIEND and I am not ice cream biased… gelato works for me hehe. I adore egg nog and I adore cranberries so you’d better believe that both of these will be being made in my ice cream maker. That is, assuming I don’t burn out my computer drooling before I can print these out. 😛
Laur
This looks like the perfect autumn recipe! Going on my to-make list.