Last updated on December 13, 2023
In Italy we call ice cream with eggs «gelato alla crema»: it is the basic fiordilatte flavor with the addition of egg yolks, which make it even more creamy. We are Italians and we share the authentic recipe to make it at home with ice cream maker
On All Italian we have already made the basic ice cream recipe without egg: it is the white ice cream flavor with milk and whipped cream that we call fiordilatte in Italy.
In ice cream, eggs are used as a thickener. But in the ice cream you make at home they are not always necessary.
You can make perfect ice creams with or without eggs: both ways, chocolate ice cream and pistachio ice cream are still delicious.
With eggs, the ice cream is naturally fuller and the texture is denser. In Italy we call the basic ice cream flavor with egg 🔊 gelato alla crema, which is light yellow in color.
On this page we share our recipe for ice cream with egg, which we make step by step with the ice cream maker. Just as delicious as that from the ice cream parlor 👍
The Italian words of this page:
| 🔊 Gelato Italiano | Italian ice cream |
| 🔊 Gelato alla crema | Crema ice cream |
| 🔊 Gelatiera | Ice cream maker |
To make this recipe we use an ice cream maker: so we get a good and soft ice cream like the one from the ice cream shop.
You can make ice cream at home even without an ice cream maker; but it will certainly be less creamy than a real ice cream.
We also heat the mixture, as it contains eggs. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità recommends heating the ice cream mixture with eggs in a saucepan; this is to prevent it from containing bacteria.
After this, we must wait for the mixture to cool down before pouring it into the ice cream maker.
So the preparation process with eggs is a little longer, but it's definitely worth it.
And while you heat the mixture you can also aromatize it with a variety of flavors: cinnamon, lemon, or vanilla as we do in our recipe book.
| 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 |
The ingredients of Italian alla Crema ice cream are the same as the ice cream base recipe: whole milk, whipping cream, sugar, plus the eggs.
Of the egg we only use the yolk, and not the albumen.
👉 In other types of ice cream we only use the egg white and not the yolk: for example in the fresh and delicious lemon sorbet or in the orange sorbet from our recipe book. In that case, however, we add only water, and no milk.
For each ingredient we indicate both the volume in cups and the weight in ounces and grams.
In the US, most online ice cream recipes indicate the ingredients in cups: it's a very practical unit, in which each ingredient is already converted into volume, so you don't need a scale.
👉 To be more accurate, however, we prefer to weigh all the ingredients: both solids and liquids before pouring them into the ice cream mixture.
For this you need a kitchen scale, preferably a digital one, which usually expresses the weight in ounces (oz) and/or grams (g).
Do you want to give gelato alla Crema a special aroma? We recommend using vanilla, cinnamon or lemon peel. You can add these ingredients at the beginning of the preparation, when we heat the mixture in a saucepan.
And then you can remove them when the mixture is cold, before pouring it into the ice cream maker.
For this recipe we use one of the most popular models of compressor ice cream maker; the steps of the procedure are the same for practically all the ice cream machines on the market.
Separate the yolks from the whites; for Crema ice cream we only need the egg yolks.
Pour the ingredients into a saucepan: egg yolks, cream, milk, sugar.
Pour in the liquids first, then add sugar. Mix the ingredients with an immersion blender on low speed until the mixture is homogeneous.
If you want to aromatize the ice cream, now is the time. While you warm up the mixture, you can add a cinnamon or a vanilla stick, vanilla sugar or the peel of a lemon. The mixture, which heats up, will absorb the aroma.
Heat the saucepan over low heat and keep stirring by hand with a wooden whisk.
Keep stirring the mixture for a few minutes; it prevents the egg from clumping and the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat when the mixture is hot and homogeneous, but not solidified or boiling.
Before pouring the mixture into the ice cream maker, let it cool down.
Let cool to room temperature first; then put it in the fridge for at least an hour, until it's cold.
👉 We recommend only pouring cold ingredients into the ice cream maker when making ice cream.
Why? Because otherwise the ice cream maker struggles to reach the temperature necessary to make the ice cream.
When the mixture has cooled, it's time to turn on the ice cream maker
A compressor ice maker needs 10-15 minutes before it is ready to use. Usually we wait until the temperature drops to -22 degrees before pouring the ice.
Read also our guide about how to use a ice cream maker.
While you are waiting for the ice cream maker to cool down: mix the mixture for a few more seconds with the immersion blender, so that it becomes homogeneous.
The mixture is then ready to be poured into the ice cream maker.
We pour the ice through a window at the top of the ice machine. Your model of ice cream maker certainly has a similar opening. It is used to pour ice without spreading the cold.
The ice cream maker takes about 30 minutes to make the ice cream: it also depends on other factors, such as the ingredients and the quantity of mixture.
After 20 minutes, the mixture begins to retain air and increase in volume.
👉 How do you know when the ice cream is ready? The ice cream maker doesn't always stop by itself. When the ice cream seems solid to you, with the structure of a gelato ice cream, leave it in the ice cream maker for another 5 minutes.
After that the ice cream is ready.
Your Italian gelato alla crema ice cream is ready. Buon appetito! 🍨
When freshly made, Italian ice cream is very soft. You can certainly eat it right away.
We put it in the freezer for at least an hour before eating it: in this way it becomes a little more solid.
To take the photo of the cone, we left the ice cream in the freezer for a few hours.
You can keep the ice cream in the freezer for a few days: it becomes hard, but not too much. Like the one from the ice cream shop.
This means you can prepare ice cream in the afternoon, store it in the freezer and offer it to guests after dinner.
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
We regularly update these pages on Italian gelato with recipes we make at home with the ice cream maker.
