Lemon Gelato

Italy and lemons have been on my mind lately.

Lemons because we bought a huge bag from Costco and need to use them. Italy, well mainly Rome because we recently saw Angels & Demons, which is set entirely in Rome. So we made lemon gelato.

I've only been to Italy once, but I loved the citrus all over. In one village on the coast especially, one of my favorite memories of the trip was a warm afternoon walking around smelling all the citrus trees. The lemon tree out the window was taken when we were in Venice. I loved that. I knew my mom would love it too.


Gelato is italian ice cream and it is amazing. In no way do I think you can replicate the actual stuff. On our trip, I ate gelato every single day, most days twice a day. The best gelato we had was in the Vatican in Rome. It was only 1.5 euro for a huge cone, we had strawberry. Maybe it was extra good because I had experienced an awful morning and ice cream helped cheer me up. Either way, here is this recipe which is good, but just an attempt at the real thing.



Lemon Gelato

a little taste of Italy cookbook


5 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. milk
2 T lemon zest
3/4 c. lemon juice
3 T thick (double) cream


Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar together until pale and creamy. Place the milk, lemon zest and remaining sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil Pour over the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon--do not allow the custard to boil.


Strain the custard into a bowl, add the lemon juice and cream and then cool over ice. Churn in an ice-cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

I usually double this recipe and it makes about 2 qts. We like to serve it with fruit.