A DAY AT MESSINA'S

"Cause I've got a golden ticket. I've got a golden chance to make my way and with a golden ticket it's a golden day."  

(Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971)

I know exactly how Charlie Bucket felt when he visited Willy Wonka's infamous chocolate factory, because I went to visit Australia's best makers of gelato yesterday. Although instead of a golden ticket it was an email confirmation... 

We gathered at the Surry Hills store on an early Saturday morning, where a shuttle bus was waiting to take us to their tiny factory in Rozelle, right next to Adriano Zumbo's. 

Donato Toce, the head chef and co-owner (pictured below) gave us a '101' on how to make gelato and shared some of his secrets and science behind their creations. Donato gave us a few demonstrations on how to make a Tiramisu gelato and a lychee sorbet which we got to taste.

Their factory is bursting at the seams, where they produce something like a tonne of gelato and up to 110 gelato cakes a day!  MIND BLOWN! Check out their To Make list on the whiteboard behind Donato - 180 litres x 9 flavours! With two of those being salted caramel, their most popular flavour. You can see why they are soon moving to a larger factory based in Rosebery, where they will be setting up a factory outlet! Woohoo!

All of their gelato originates from that tiny factory and is distributed throughout their numerous stores across Sydney and their store in Melbourne, where they are chilled and churned on site. We were told about the upcoming expansion of the Messina empire with future stores being developed in Miranda (NSW) and Coolangatta (QLD). 

Meanwhile we were fed a 5 course degustation menu all featuring gelati.
First off the bat was the Strawberry and Rhubarb fields forever, featuring caramelised rhubarb, compressed strawberries, baby basil, strawberry sorbet and dry caramel powder.



Second was the BHP, with a banana mousse, burnt honey gelato, fresh pear and pate sable. This was my favourite, the flavour combinations so subtle yet so complementary. 

Then we Oooh and Aaah'ed over the bowls of the Crunchies, which was so decadent and delicious and left us giggling looking at each other's gold-stained lips.

Another degustation delight was the Roll it and Fold it with a smooth mango sorbet, a refreshing apple and orange blossom creme leger, croissant crunch and croquant. 

And the final item on the menu was the Fra...what's going here... - which was probably the most interesting (but least visually enticing, if I have to be picky) of the lot - with a Pecan gelato, radish cream served on a Japanese sponge.

We watched on as the head pastry chef prepared his final touches for  the Willy Wonka inspired Dr Evil's Magic Mushroom gelato cake. I was mesmerised by the oozing red glaze being poured over the hemisphere of chocolate gelato. Isn't it just divine?!

If any of my nearest and dearest are reading this, let it be known that my birthday is coming up (cough cough HINT HINT HINT wink wink... (Hmm, subtle)

A cross section diagram  of Messina's amazing creation (Image from Gelato Messina)

THE PINK LADY - Watermelon & Rose Sorbet

 It has been a really hot and humid start of April with plenty of rain and storms. I think I am in denial about this crazy weather, wishing it was still summer. I only made it to the beach twice!

Here is a refreshing, tropical dessert for those of you who are relishing in the sun right now. It was one of the easiest sorbets / ice creams / gelati I have ever made, thanks to my good friend, the blender.

I was inspired by the famous Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose Scented Cream by one of my favourite Sydney bakers, Black Star Pastry. Except mine was a much more simplified version of their beautiful and complex creation. I added a tiny splash of Rooh Afza, which is a cordial made from fruits, herbs & vegetable extracts and originally comes from India. The Rooh Afza has a really strong rose flavour, so just a capful added a nice hint. We usually use Rooh Afza to make delicious Lassi (yoghurt-based) drinks.

I really loved the pretty colour of this sorbet and it's sweet and floral flavour. Next time I think I'll add some mint and strawberries. Perhaps some vodka if I'm feeling devilish!

If you don't have an Indian grocer nearby, you could substitute Rooh Afza for rose essence and add sugar to taste.

WATERMELON & ROSE SORBET

Recipe adapted from A Sweet Pea Chef's Watermelon Sorbet

Makes about 1litre

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 water
• 6-7 cups chopped fresh seedless watermelon 
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (approx. 3 1/2 limes)
• 1 tsp Rooh Afza / Rose essence / Rose water

Method:

• Add sugar and water to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer once the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl to cool.
• Put the watermelon pieces and the lime juice in a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until the mixture is completely pureed.
• Pour watermelon mixture over a fine mesh strainer to remove any seeds or extra pulp and stir with sugar mixture.
• Cool mixture completely then use your ice cream maker on desired setting to process the mixture and churn.

But I don't have an ice cream maker!

Never fear!

• Freeze chopped watermelon pieces.
• Add sugar and water to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer once the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl to cool.
• Put the frozen watermelon pieces, the lime juice and cooled sugar-water mixture in a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until the mixture is completely pureed.

CIOCCOLATA SORBETTO - Dark Chocolate Sorbet with Pistachios

Let it be known that this is the best chocolate sorbet recipe ever. It is so damn easy to make and is absolutely delicious! The chocolate flavour is sooooooooo rich and it's a sorbet so it is (practically) dairy-free (depending on what chocolate you use), but somehow it still tastes creamy like a gelato. I love making this sorbet, as it brings a lot of joy to my vegans and lactose-haters! (Shout outs to Akanksha, Jess D & Kaami! xoxo) 

I used a 70% cocoa chocolate, which had a minimal amount of milk solids and the perfect balance of bitter and sweetness. If you're a hard-to-the-inner-most-core dark chocolate person (like this lady), try it out with an 80-85% chocolate and add sugar to taste.

Once I made this sorbet to accompany a friend's birthday cake - a gluten free orange & almond cake, which worked really well together. The cake carried the orange flavour over to the sorbet, creating a delicious Jaffa flavour combination.

And for the second time I made it, I mixed in a small packet of pistachios and sprinkled some on top for a bit of colour.

I tried this recipe twice on a Sorbet setting on my Ice Cream maker - once it turned out perfectly and the second time it was a bit runny. So you might want to check on the sorbet just before it's finished churning and increase the hardness if required.

CIOCCOLATA SORBETTO 
Dark Chocolate Sorbet based on David Leibovitz's Chocolate Sorbet recipe from A Perfect Scoop

Makes about 1 litre


Sorbet Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups (555mL) water
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 3/4 cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 170g (6 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Sorbet Method:

• Whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375mL) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a large saucepan.
• Bring to the boil (that's why you need a large saucepan!) and whisk frequently. Once it's boiling, continue to whisk for about a minute.
• Remove from the stove and stir in the chocolate until it's melted. If it's lumpy, reheat on simmer and stir until smooth.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180mL) of water.
• Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds.
• Chill the mixture.
• Freeze in your ice cream maker on a sorbet setting.
• Now it's time to clean that mess! :P

Gelatolandia

Ah Venice, my favourite city in all of Europe. Such beauty and hidden treasures around every corner and turn. There were a few things we were told we must do during our stay, one of which was to get lost in the labyrinth that is the island of Venice. 

The next was to try a Spritz (an almost fluorescent orange aperitif that is very popular with the Venetians in the early evenings). There's some interesting history behind the drink here.

And finally, the third thing we just had to do was to go to Gelatolandia, which was very conveniently located across the road from our B&B. 

For our first taste, we tried the Raffaello and Nutella. They both tasted exactly like gelato-versions of their true forms, and were absolutely delicious.

The next day we tried the Ciccolata Noir (dark chocolate) and Limone Crema (lemon cream), which was sugar and dairy-free. It had the perfect balance of tart-lemon flavour and sweetness and was surprisingly creamy for a sorbet. I would love to know the secret behind this flavour!

Last but not least, we tried a Gelatolandia take on a Maxibon! It was very impressive and tasted great. I just wish we could have stayed longer to try their other creations!

You know you're in a country where they're serious about Gelato when their bins are giant ice-cream cones!

Chamberry Sorbet

I am constantly bugging a Vietnamese friend of mine to make Pho noodle soup  and rice paper rolls for me. And it finally worked, so we made a party of it, enjoying a delicious Pho with plenty of chicken and fresh herbs during our work lunch break. So to make up for my pestering, I made this delicious Blackberry sorbet with a splash of Chambord black raspberry liqueur. 

This sorbet was very easy to make, with a small amount of ingredients. I would have made the sorbet using fresh berries, but they weren't in season and cost a small fortune for a teeny tiny punnet in Australia. Sometimes you just have to make do with what's in your pantry.

I loooooove Chambord, mostly because of the pretty bottle (that always reminds me of the Vivienne Westwood logo) but it also tastes a bit like Ribena and a yummy cough mixture. I recommend you only add a little splash of this liqueur, as it's quite potent!

Chamberry Sorbet 
blackberry sorbet with a splash of chambord liqueur

based on David Leibovitz's Blackberry Sorbet recipe from A Perfect Scoop

Makes about 1 litre


Sorbet Ingredients:

• 1 tin blackberries (415g) or 4 cups fresh / frozen  blackberries

• 1 cup (250mL) water

• 2/3 cup (130g) sugar

• 2 tsp lemon / lime juice

• Approximately 1 tbs Chambord black raspberry liqueur

Sorbet Method:

• Place the blackberries in blender or food processor with water and sugar and blend until smooth. 

• Pour mixture into bowl, straining with a fine sieve to remove the seeds.

• Stir in the lemon / lime juice, then chill the mixture.

• Freeze in your ice cream maker on a sorbet setting.

Milano Gelato

I'm back! Back from 10 days in pure gelato heaven, including a complete indulgence at the Gelato Festival in Florence. Accompanied by my sister, who waited ever-so-patiently, holding each mouth-watering gelato, whilst I fumbled about with the camera. Together, we scouted Europe for the best scoops we could find - starting in Italy, then continuing the adventures in Germany, Paris and London. I'll be adding new posts over the next few weeks from my European Gelato adventures, so stay tuned!

For our first day in Milan, Italy, we went straight to Montenapoleone, the fashion district of Milan (it even has an Armani cafe!) Of course, all the shops were closed, but luckily we stumbled upon Cioccolatitaliani, a beautifully displayed store, with a great assortment of chocolates. We had the Ciccolata Negro, which was superbly dark, rich and oh-so chocolately! We also tried the Biscotto di Meliga, based on the 'Paste di meliga' corn flour-based biscuit. The third flavour was the Frutti Misti di Bosco, a super-refreshing sorbet made from blackberries, blueberries, currants and raspberries (which made it ok to have for breakfast, right?!) Oh I almost forgot, there was dark chocolate sauce to top it off!
 

We had an amazing and very traditional Italian meal at Antica Trattoria della Pesa, one of the oldest restaurants in Milan (since 1880). Thanks to my friend, Eva, for suggesting this wonderful place! For dessert (because who cares about savouries!), we had a warm Zabaione garnished with strawberries, which was a really light but delicious custard and a Green Apple sorbet, which was creamier than I had ever imagined and managed to find the perfect balance between sourness and sweetness.