Double Your Pleasure with Blueberry Cheesecake and Very Cherry Gelato

I love gelato and making new and fun flavors simply comes down to what you have on hand. This week its Blueberry Cheesecake gelato, and Very Cherry gelato!

Total Time: 40 minutes

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When the heat is on, I eat ice cream, or in this case gelato. Try two summer favorites that are bursting with fresh fruit flavor, Blueberry Cheesecake and Very Cherry Gelato.

One of Lisa’s favorite ice cream flavors is Bing Cherry Vanilla. And since cherries seem to be everywhere in the market I thought a Very Cherry Vanilla would be a good flavor to make. The Gelato turned out great, the only problem was the color, not quite pink, not quite red, luckily it didn’t effect the flavor at all, the Very Cherry Gelato was delicious!

For those of you that have never made Gelato, there are really two differences  between Ice Cream and Gelato,  one is a Gelato maker does not put as much air into the finished product, leaving a denser product with concentrated flavors. The other difference is that milk is used instead of heavy cream, which also allows the flavors to be more prominent, not masked by the richness of the cream. I think I also tend to use less sugar, which also lets your taste buds concentrate on the flavor of the gelato rather than the sweetness. At least that’s my take on it.

There are a lot of inexpensive ice cream makers on the market, which is what I started with, but not having a large freezer, having to store the bowl in the freezer every time I wanted to make ice cream really put a damper on my ice cream making. Last year I decided it was time to buy a unit with its own freezer, and the fact that I didn’t have a lot of extra room for yet another kitchen gadget, and not wanting to break the bank I ended up buying a Delonghi GM6000 Gelato maker on Amazon. The ratings on the gelato maker were really good and as far as gelato makers go, it was a lot less expensive than most on the market, you’ll be happy if you get one.

Since my gelato maker has its own refrigeration unit, I can make one batch after another, and after getting the Very Cherry done, I thought I’d be patriotic and make a blue ice cream as well. I wanted to change up the recipe a little,  so I thought I’d be adventurous and make a Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato….let’s just say that it came out better than I expected! Two delicious frozen treats to celebrate National Ice Cream Month, Very Cherry and Blueberry Cheesecake Gelatos!

Can I Use an Ice Cream Maker to Make a Gelato Recipe?

Yes, you can. The difference between the two machines is gelato is churned at a much slower rate than ice cream, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream. The recipes generally use milk instead of cream allowing the flavor of the gelato to be more prominent.

What Other Flavors of Gelato are Easy to Make?

If you love Gelato as much as I do, you may also like these recipes:

• The Best and Easiest Strawberry Gelato
• Clementine (Tangerine) Gelato and Colada
• Grilled Peaches and Cream Gelato
• Meyer Lemon Gelato 

4.88 from 8 votes

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Very Cherry and Blueberry Cheesecake Gelatos

I love gelato and making new and fun flavors simply comes down to what you have on hand. This week its Blueberry Cheesecake gelato, and Very Cherry gelato!

Author: Chef Dennis Littley

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Very Cherry Gelato

• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen sweet cherries pitted (reserve 1/2 cup (65 gm) and cut into quarters), 325 gm
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 gm
• 2 cups whole milk 480 ml
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 30 ml

Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 260 gm
• 1/2 cup sugar 100 gm
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk 360 ml
• 8 oz cream cheese 227 gm

Instructions

Very Cherry Gelato

1. Remove the stems from the cherries and rinse in cold water, pit cherries.
2. Place 2 cups (260 gm) of the cherries, lemon juice and the sugar in a food processor and process until liquefied.
3. Add the milk and run the food processor until the mixture is smooth.
4. add in the remainder of the cut up cherries and Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato

1. remove any spoiled blueberries and rinse in cold water.
2. Place the blueberries and the sugar in a food processor and process until <g class="gr_ gr_66 gr-alert gr_spell gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="66" data-gr-id="66">liquified</g>.
3. Add the cream cheese and run the food processor until all the mixture is fairly smooth.
4. Add the milk to the food processor and continue to mix until well blended.
5. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Recipe Notes

if you would like the gelato to be richer, substitute 1/2 cup (120 gm) of heavy cream for 1/2 cup (120 gm) of the milk.

This will work in a gelato maker or an ice cream maker