Last updated on March 12, 2024
Whole milk, whipping cream, sugar, eggs and cinnamon sticks to give it the aroma. We are Italians and make cinnamon ice cream at home with the ice cream maker
This is the updated recipe for our homemade Italian cinnamon ice cream.
The preparation is simple and straightforward: we mix the ingredients, heat to flavor with a few cinnamon sticks and then let the mixture cool completely before pouring it into the ice cream maker.
The recipe contains eggs. With eggs, the ice cream is a little denser and goes well with the aroma of cinnamon. The recipe is based on that of crema ice cream, which we call «gelato alla crema» in ice cream parlors in Italy.
Using the same method we also make a delicious ice cream with vanilla flavor.
The Italian words of this page:
| 🔊 Cannella | Cinnamon |
| 🔊 Gelato Italiano | Italian ice cream |
| 🔊 Gelato alla cannella | CInnamon ice cream |
To add cinnamon flavor to ice cream, we do not use powder but sticks. To aromatize, we heat the ice cream mixture over low heat for a few minutes, then we add the cinnamon sticks and we let it cool down.
We never pour a hot mixture into the ice cream maker: that's why we let the mixture cool to room temperature and then we put it in the refrigerator. This takes about an hour in total, but it's worth it. Meanwhile, the cinnamon releases all the aroma into the ice cream mixture.
You can also make cinnamon ice cream without eggs: the preparation is the same, but you use the ingredients of milk ice cream.
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Whole milk | 1.25 cup | 310 g | 10.93 oz |
|
Whipping cream | 0.75 cup | 160 g | 5.64 oz |
|
Sugar | 0.5 cup | 90 g | 3.17 oz |
|
Egg yolk | 3 yolks | ||
|
Cinnamon sticks | 5 cinnamon sticks |
In our homemade ice cream we use whole milk and whipping cream with 35% fat content. You don't need to whip the cream before adding it to the mixture.
We use a few cinnamon sticks to flavor our cinnamon ice cream. Optionally, we also enrich the taste with a vanilla pod, or even vanilla sugar.
Then once the ice cream is ready, we can decorate it with a sprinkling of cinnamon powder.
With our ice cream recipes you get around 200 g of ice cream per person. That's about 3 large scoops of ice cream.
We measure all ingredients in grams: we weigh them all, even liquids, with a digital kitchen scale; and then we add them to the mixture.
The tool on our recipe allows you to increase or decrease the amount of ingredients.
For practice it is easier to make a little ice cream at a time.
To make this recipe we use a classic model compressor ice cream maker. The preparation steps are the same for most ice cream makers.
If you use an ice cream maker with a freezer bowl, make sure you prepare the basket well frozen in advance.
Pour whipping cream, milk, egg yolks and sugar into a bowl: first the liquids and then the powders.
Mix the ingredients with an immersion blender until you get a homogeneous mixture.
It is normal for the whipped cream to create a little foam on the mixture.
Transfer the mixture into a saucepan, add the cinnamon sticks and heat over low heat.
Stir the mixture slowly and let it warm for a few minutes.
If the mixture heats up too much, the eggs will coagulate: do not bring it to the boil.
If you have a kitchen thermometer, make sure it does not exceed 181°F / 83°C.
Finally turn off the heat and let it cool.
Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Then put it in the fridge until it's cold; possibly covered to avoid absorbing odors from the refrigerator.
In total we let it cool for about an hour.
Turn on the ice cream maker: it will take a few minutes before it reaches the right temperature to make the ice cream.
Our ice cream machine takes just under 10 minutes. When you pour the ice cream mixture, the ice cream maker should already be very cold.Remove the mixture from the refrigerator and mix it once again with the immersion blender for a few seconds.
Then pour the cold mixture into the ice cream maker.
We pour the ice cream mixture through the opening on the lid while the mixing paddleis rotating: this way the cold does not escape from the inner bowl.
Usually the ice cream maker takes about 40 minutes to make gelato. It also depends on the amount of ice cream you make.
You can check the status of the ice through the transparent lid.
After 20 minutes the mixture will begin to grow in volume and slowly become ice cream.
Sometimes the ice cream maker stops on its own when the ice cream is ready: however, it depends on the model of ice cream maker and the quantity of ice cream you are making.
Your Italian gelato alla cannella ice cream is ready. Buon appetito! 🍨
Fresh from the ice cream machine, homemade ice cream is soft.
We usually eat it right away or, if we serve it to guests, we let it solidify in the freezer for a few hours.
Our ice cream becomes hard in the freezer, like also the one from the ice cream parlour.
If it becomes too hard, you can thaw it in the refrigerator for half an hour before serving: this will soften the ice cream again without melting.
Our cinnamon ice cream is also delicious the next day; but because it contains eggs, we recommend keeping it in a covered bowl in the freezer for a maximum of two days.
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
I am Italian from Trentino. I studied philosophy in Padua and worked for many years between Milan and Amsterdam in the field of media and culture.
Since 2021 I write on All Italian to practice foreign languages; meanwhile I share with you the customs and traditions of my country, and the recipes that I prepare at home.