We're entering high season for frozen treats! We'll eat most of these no matter what name they go by, truthfully. But it's still nice to know what makes a sorbet a sorbet or what distinguishes a gelato from an ice cream, if only so we can choose our next scoop with authority.
Ice Cream - Ice cream has a custard base of milk, cream, sugar, and (typically) egg yolks. Churning this base as it cools gives it a smooth texture and incorporates air into the ice cream. The finished product is smooth, light-textured, and creamy.
• Try It! Strawberry Ice Cream with Cocoa Nibs
Gelato - Gelato starts out with a similar ice cream custard base, but it's churned slower and frozen at a slightly warmer temperature. The slow churning incorporates less air, so the gelato is more dense. The higher freezing temperature means that the gelato stays silkier and softer. It's also more likely for gelato to use a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or none at all) so that the main flavor ingredient shines through.
• Try It! Chocolate Gelato with Salted Caramel Pecans
Sorbet - Dairy-free and egg-free, sorbets are made from fruit juice or flavored water and simple syrup. They're churned like ice cream to give them a soft and snowy texture. (Sherbet usually contains some amount of milk or cream in addition to the fruit juice.)
• Try It! Spiked Lemon Ginger Sorbet
Granita - Granitas are exactly like sorbets except they're made by hand. The liquid base is poured into a shallow dish and frozen. At intervals, the base is stirred or racked with a fork to break up the ice crystals as they form. The result is a frozen dessert with a coarse and flaky texture.
• Try It! Cantaloupe Granita
What's your favorite kind of frozen dessert?
Related: Cool Treats: How Do You Like Your Ice Cream Floats?
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I always thought I was an ice cream person - until I spent 10 days in Italy having a gelato a day - yum!
Funny, when I was little and we happened to be out of a frozen dessert, we would pour juice in a cup or bowl and freeze it, and scrape up the crystals before it froze solid. Little did I know we were essentially making a form of a granita.
You're missing one of the best... Frozen Custard! Higher buttermilk and eggs required vs ice cream.
Frozen yogurt! Also, frozen mashed-up bananas a la "How to make creamy ice cream with just one ingredient!"
My understanding is that egg content (plus higher butterfat percentage) make frozen custard.
What about Philadelphia style ice cream, cream (and maybe milk), sugar, salt, and flavor? So technically, I think, not a custard but definitely ice cream.
THANK YOU!
I love gelato, but I get ticked when people say it's "ice cream" because it's not the same thing. I was on vacation recently in southern France and was eating a lot of gelato. Sometimes my tour book would advertise a "great ice cream stand" near some landmark and it actually turned out to be gelato. Especially when you get to fruit flavors, they couldn't be more different.
My feelings are hurt for sherbert. Poor neglected sherbert.