Key Lime with Graham Cracker Gelato

Happy Monday all! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

We spend the weekend on a little road trip down to Oregon. We had a family wedding to attend and we decided to drive from Seattle as Oregon always provides a lovely view.



While Mr. Humble and I really enjoy road trips, this was the little Humble's first one and she didn't approve of the long hours spent in a car seat. Toddlers seemingly can't take in sights at a distance, they want to get out and run around.

So we satisfied her when we could, the rest of the time we plied her with ice cream.

Little Humble: Powered by sugar

...and six hundred miles with a two year old requires a lot of stops and ice cream.

Road side soft-serve is never as good as homemade though. So now that I'm home, we're whipping up a batch of key lime gelato.



After finding a dozen of these little tart, acidic key limes being offered for only a few dollars last week, I knew I had Monday's post in the bag. For a while now I've been itching to make Ciao Bella's famous key lime graham cracker gelato.



The flavor of the gelato, like the key lime, is decidely tart. If your palette leans towards sweeter ice creams, you might want to skip this one. However, if you're of the sort who loves bright, tart, creamy key lime with a graham cracker crunch, this will not disappoint.


Key Lime with Graham Cracker Gelato
from The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto
yields roughly one quart
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, preferably Key lime (about 6)
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
3/4 cup crushed graham crackers, frozen

heavy cream for garnish (optional)

Combine the milk and cream in a medium, heavy-bottomed sace pan and place over medium low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming until tiny bubbles starts to form around the edges of the mixture (170°F).

While waiting for the milk and cream to come to temperature, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually add the sugar, whisking until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer (to remove any egg chalaza or other undesirables) into a clean bowl. Gently whisk the lime juice and zest and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Once completely cooled, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight. (To speed this up, place the mixture into an ice bath, stirring occasionally until very, very cold)

Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Immediately after churning, stir in the graham cracker chunks and transfer to an airtight container. Freeze the gelato for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

Enjoy!

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