Dulce de Leche-White Hot Chocolate Gelato

First things first, Happy Birthday to my sister, Rachel!

Now, on with the food… This isn’t your average vanilla gelato. It may appear light in color, but it is serious in flavor.

After I made Nutella Gelato last week, I could not wait to experiment with different flavors using the same custard-base as Giada’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato recipe… I told you, I am an ice cream connoisseur.

When I need a bit of cooking or baking inspiration, I walk the aisles of Cost Plus World Market. About five minutes later, I stumble upon a great ingredient and a recipe is forming in my head already!

On this particular trip I found myself glued to the Hot Cocoa section. More specifically, Dulce de Leche- White Hot Chocolate. Since the first step of making gelato involves heating milk, cream, and sugar in a saucepan, I thought mixing powdered cocoa to the custard-base would be an easy and delicious flavor enhancer… Just like making hot cocoa over the stove, but then it gets churned into ice cream!

I think the addition of powdered cocoa mix is a simple and inexpensive way to add flavor to ice cream. Plus, you can buy 2 oz. “Try-Me” sizes at Cost Plus World Market, including; Dulce de Leche- White Hot Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Mexicocoa. Safe to say, I know what I’ll be making  the next few weeks…

Dulce de Leche-White Hot Chocolate Gelato recipe inspired by Giada de Laurentiis:

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

2 egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (Here’s your alcohol content!)

2.5 oz. Dulce de Leche- White Hot Chocolate powdered cocoa mix

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Pour 2.5 oz. powdered cocoa mix into milk and cream mixture. Stir until blended.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions to freeze.

Makes 5 Servings

Nutritional Information**

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Calories: 277

Fat: 12.4 g (Saturated 6.4 g)

Cholesterol: 125 mg

Carbohydrate: 30 g

Sodium: 70 mg

Fiber: 0 g

Protein: 5.4 g

**Note: I calculated nutritional facts using a feature on Daily Burn.