How To: Make an Italian-style mango gelato ice cream

Attention all ice cream lovers — drop the ice cream and pick up the gelato! You won't regret it. At least, not with this fantastic recipe for a really simple mango gelato. The tropical fruit is the key to this mouth-watering gelato. Sweet and juicy mango is puréed and added to a smooth custard of eggs, sugar, milk and heavy cream. Pastry Chef Meghann Osmon of BINA restaurant effortlessly takes us through the process of making great gelato.

It's easy, not too time consuming, and you can't make dessert any fresher than when you add ripe fruit just before the mix hits the ice cream maker. Sweet, creamy, delicious and home-made. Can't beat that.

Makes 2 quarts

INGREDIENTS:

* 13 egg yolks & 3 whole eggs
* ¾ cup sugar, divided
* 2 cups milk
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 2 cups (3½ mangos) mango puree (store-bought or fresh)

Special Equipment

* whisk
* fine sieve
* ice cream maker

HOW-TO:

1. Whisk together eggs, yolks and sugar
2. Heat milk and heavy cream in a heavy sauce pan
3. When the cream mixture is almost to a boil, slowly temper into eggs
4. Return egg/cream mixture to the pot and heat over medium. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thickened like a custard
5. Strain with a fine sieve into a container and cool in an ice bath or in the refrigerator, then stir in mango puree
6. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions for freezing, about 20-25 minutes
7. Put ice cream in an airtight container and freeze