WATCH: How to make gelato? Let the experts show you

Have you ever wondered why gelato is smoother and tastier than ice cream?

And did you know that gelato is less fattening?

These are some of the things we learned after meeting expert gelato chefs from Italy at the Gelato World Tour in Singapore, happening this week. 

From March 19 to 21, Cafe Asia 2015, International Coffee and Tea Industry Expo (ICT) and Sweets and Bakes Asia will be going on at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre while the Gelato World Tour will run from March 20 to 22. 

You will be able to taste some of the finest teas and coffees, buy the best coffee, tea and baking products and also try freshly made gelato by Italian gelato chefs. 

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TNP met gelato chefs to learn about the delicious dessert and to find out how it's made. 

Gelato is made with sugar, cream and milk. The ingredients are mixed before being poured into a batch freezer, which churns the mixture slowly at a very low temperature. It is then extracted, and other flavoures and toppings are mixed into the gelato. After that, it's ready to be eaten. ​

But if you're looking to make the dessert at home and you don't have a batch freezer, here's a simple recipe from Food.com you can follow to make your own gelato. 

INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE GELATO (FOR A SERVING OF SIX)

1. 200 grams of chocolate
2. Half a cup of sugar
3. Five egg yolks
4. 500 ml of milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Beat the egg yolk and sugar together.
3. Heat the milk in low heat and remove from heat just before it starts to boil.
4. Add the milk to the yolk mixture little by little, mixing thoroughly.
5. Heat the mixture again stirring occasionally until it boils. Then remove from heat.
6. Add the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.
7. Transfer the mixture to a chilled metal container and freeze.
8. Stir it every 45 minutes to break any ice lumps and put it back in the freezer.
9. Continue to do this 2 more times.
10. After about 7 hrs of freezing, put it through a food processor (or break it up and stir with a fork).

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ICE CREAM AND GELATO

Fat content

The fat content in ice-cream is usually much higher than gelato, ranging between 10 to 16 per cent; for gelato, it is usually between three to eight per cent. That's mostly due to ice creams using, well, mostly cream, whereas gelato require more milk than cream. 

Air

Ice cream is churned at a much higher speed to increase its volume. In the process, more air gets trapped in the mixture. It's a different case for gelato, which is churned at a much slower pace. According to Valentina Righi, Vice President of Carpigiani, the production company for gourmet gelato machines, ice creams contains 130 per cent air, while gelato contains only 30 per cent air. This is what makes gelato thicker and smoother than ice cream. 

Photos: Latashni Gobi Nathan/TNP

Temperature

Ice cream is served at about -12 degrees Celsius while gelato is served at about -3 degrees Celcius. If ice cream is served at a higher temperature, it would melt quickly. On the other hand, if gelato is served at a lower temperature, it becomes too hard and loses its famously silky texture. 

Check these out

Other than digging into delicious gelato at the Gelato World Tour, here are some other events to check out at Cafe Asia 2015: 

1. Baking with SILI 
   A baking demonstration from 11 am to 12 noon on March 20.
    
2. Latte Art by Mr Hiroshi Sawada 
   From 2 to 3 pm on March 21, Mr Sawada will show you how to create Latte Art using a latte machine.
    
3. Singapore National Brewers Cup
   From March 19 to 21, coffee brewers will be able to compete against each other for the first time to see who can produce the best coffee using only the traditional manual coffee-brewing technique. 

Sources: Huffington Post, Food.com, Cafe Asia