Lemon Curd & Clotted Cream Gelato
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Sicilian lemons are simply delicious at this time of year. Lemons were brought to Sicily in the 10th century and the land around Mount Etna, with its perfectly Mediterranean climate, long hot sunny days and cold nights, coupled with volcanic soil, gives the Sicilian lemon a particular sweetness and taste that is unmatched even by the harvest from Amalfi, another lovely lemon-growing centre.
We have made our own limoncello, the classic lemon liqueur from Southern Italy, to pair with the fresh Sicilian lemon curd and the rich clotted cream gelato - a truly delicious dessert.
For the lemon curd
Ingredients
2 large Sicilian lemons, zest and juice
225 g caster sugar
85 g unsalted butter, diced
3 large free range eggs, beaten
Method
Place the zest & juice of the lemons into a heat proof bowl along with the sugar & butter. Carefully place over a bain marie and heat gently until butter has melted and sugar dissolved.
Then add the eggs and continue to cook slowly until 80 degrees celsius. Make sure you whisk the mixture often so it doesn't caramelise on the side of the bowl or cook the egg too quickly.
Once at 80 degrees the mixture should look smooth, thick & have a rich, shiny yellow colour.
Pass through a fine sieve into a suitable plastic container, cling film and leave to go cold and set. Ideally overnight in a cool place, or in the fridge to speed up the process.
For the clotted cream gelato
Ingredients (makes approx 1.5 l)
500 g clotted cream
250 ml full fat milk
2 large free range egg yolks
125 g caster sugar
Method
Place the clotted cream and full fat milk into a heavy bottom pan and heat gently until scalding point.
Place the egg yolks and sugar into a heat proof mixing bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.
Once the cream & milk mixture is scalding carefully poor half over the egg & sugar mix and whisk rapidly, so not to scramble the egg.
Then poor the creamy, eggy mixture back into the heavy bottom pan with the rest of the cream/milk and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until it reaches 80°C and the egg yolk is cooked.
Once at 80°C quickly remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve. Leave to cool completely, ideally overnight in a cool place or fridge to speed up the process.
Then churn in your ice cream machine as per manufactures instructions. Alternatively if you don't have an ice cream machine then just in a bowl in your deep freeze is fine, whisk gently every half an hour or so until almost frozen.
Once your gelato is ready, transfer it into a suitable plastic container and just before you put it into your deep freeze add two thirds of the lemon curd (more or less as you prefer) and mix gently with a serving spoon until you get a ‘lemon ripple’ effect through the gelato.
To serve:
Place a good spoon full of curd at the bottom of your serving dish, two delicious scoops of gelato, we add a boozy glug or two of our homemade Limoncello on top.
