Gelato con Mirtilli Selvatici & Meringe (Wild Blueberries & Meringue)
When I like something, I tend to hoard. I'm speaking about everything and nothing in particular. It's my nature. Like if I like a shirt, I tend to get the other colors too. I guess you would figure how uncreative and boring I am in dressing up. I am sometimes. I do admire the new styles now and then and sometimes, I do buy them but they remain at the back of the closet or if ever they do go out, they have a limited travel distance from my closet to the premises of my house.
Blueberries have the same effect on me. I hoarded them back at the Dolomites during our stay there and I prepared some desserts and even a salad with them. I would put them everywhere if I could. I took home some too (Ahem, modestly speaking.) to make other desserts and the one that came to my mind was blueberry ice cream with meringue. It was based on the gelato con fragole e meringe (strawberry & meringue ice cream) of Guido Martinetti of Grom, my favorite gelateria (ice cream shop) and one of the best in Italy, at least in my opinion and to the rest who wait in long queues to get a treat of their gelato. For that reason, I base almost all my gelato recipes on theirs.
They boast of making their gelato just like they were done before using biological ingredients with excellent quality. And the thickener that they use is carob flour which I like using in my gelato because of excellent results.
Gelato con Mirtilli Selvatici (Wild Blueberries)
Based on Guido Martinetti of Grom's Gelato con Fragole e Meringe recipe (In Italian)Ingredients:
Serves 4
- 150 ml. almond milk (Original recipe asks for fresh whole milk.)
- 100 grams white cane sugar
- 250 grams wild blueberries + some for garnishing
- 20 grams meringue + some for garnishing
- tip of teaspoon, carob flour
- Warm up the milk in a saucepan.
- Slowly pour the sugar and the carob powder. While pouring them little by little, use the hand blender to mix well with the milk.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl (a size that can accommodate the blueberries later on) and leave in the refrigerator to cool down until it reaches room temperature.
- When the milk has reached room temperature, add the blueberries and blend with the hand blender until smooth.
- Transfer to the ice cream maker and churn following the manufacturer's instructions. I leave it churning for about half an hour or until I see that the ice cream has already solidified and ready to be transferred to the freezer to harden more.
- Before turning it off, add the crumbled meringue while churning to distribute them in the ice cream.
- Transfer to the freezer to harden a bit.
- Top with blueberries and crumbled meringue before serving.
