Andiamo a la Cucina!

Who is in the mood for desserts? Homemade desserts?

Today, we would like to share one of our favorite recipe, so let's go to the kitchen! Andiamo a la cucina!

Rum Cake Topped with Pino Gelato

Ingredients for the cake:

2 cups of butter

7 eggs

2 ½ granulate sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

3 cups of flour

2 tablespoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions for the cake:

Mix butter and sugar thoroughly until blended

Add the eggs one at a time

Add the vanilla extract

Sift together all dry ingredients, alternately mix flour, cream to butter mixture.

Pour into cake pan and sprinkle with chopped walnuts or pecans in between the layers.

Bake at 350 degree for 35- 40 minutes. 

Ingredients for the rum demi-glaze:

2 cups of sugar

½ cup of butter

3 cups of water

4 tablespoons of vanilla extract

1 cup of dark rum

  

Directions for the rum demi-glaze:

Preheat the pan and add butter, sugar and water to boil.

Add vanilla extract and rum

Note: Do not overheat to retain the rum flavors

Once the cake is baked, remove from the oven and poked 6 to 8 holes to drench the rum demi glaze.

Let it sit for 20 minutes before serving.  

Decorations: 

Fresh fruits

Tampered chocolate 

Fresh mint leaves

Whipped Cream

Buon Appetito!

Dominic Leong at A Gourmet Sensation event in Cincinnati in September 2012

Gelato, Forever!

As dessert fads come into cities and towns only to quickly vacate and make room for the latest treat, rest assured that gelato is more than a trend.

Lucianna Polliotti

To pay tribute to the immortal and delectable treat that is this Italian ice-cream comes Carpigiani Gelato Museum. Just outside of Bologna, Italy set to open September 27, 2012 the museum pays tribute to the history, culture, and technology of gelato. Enthusiasts planning a trip to Italy must explore the breadth of thousands of years celebrating the life and tradition of the infamous Italian frozen treat. Exhibits planned by a gelato historian and museum curator, Lucianna Polliotti, encompass more than 20 original machines, 10,000 images and documents, and interactive workshops. Admission to the museum is free, but you will need a reservation, gelatomuseum.org

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

To plan the ultimate tasting tour of gelato’s homeland gear up for a few other mandatory stops. For those marveled by the existence of gelato wanting a hands-on approach to complete the venture started, schedule a course on gelato making at Carpigiani Gelato University. Yes, a university dedicated to gelato with a mission on gelatouniversity.com which states, “Carpigiani Gelato University has the objective of sustaining the development of gelato shops everywhere and educating the public regarding the pleasure and flavor of genuine Italian gelato.” Profound craftsmanship is built here, undoubtedly. After developing a thorough knowledge of gelato, it is time to put newfound skills to work via taste test.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

Gelato proves withstanding time through acclaimed gelato shops and festivals. Rome’s famed Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, 40 is the highest regarded gelato in the Vatican City. Coordinate this entire feat with Firenze Gelato Festival in May where attendees purchase a gelato card to taste, and likely skip, their way through the participating piazzas.

Italians are known for their love of decadent food that provides more than impeccable taste, it induces joyous occasion, beholds tradition, and indulges in the excellence of their cuisine gifts to the world.

Awarding gelato and the creative history behind this Italian staple confirms it is much more than the trendy, and typically transient, dessert-of-the-moment boutique.


The celebration of gelato strengthens the party it delivers with this well-deserved honor, The Gelato Museum.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

-Maloof, Ashley for Pino Gelato

Happy National Chocolate Milkshake Day!

Dear fellow chocoholics, this is our day!!!!!

Take two delicious treats such as chocolate and milkshake and combine them, that’s genius!

The term “milkshake” first appeared in 1885 and referred to an alcoholic whiskey drink, similar to eggnog. AND milkshakes were said to have some medicinal purposes!

 

By 1900, they was no more alcohol but a whole lot of goodness left in milkshakes! 

The milkshake became really popular when in 1922 a Walgreens employee in Chicago, Ivar "Pop" Coulson, took an old-fashioned malted milk (milk, chocolate, and malt) and added two scoops of ice cream.

Suddenly everyone around the country, and the world for that matter, began drinking milkshakes.

The rest is history…

So let’s thank “Pop” while savoring a delicious milkshake, a chocolate milkshake nonetheless!

You can go the classic route with all chocolate or branch out and mix in Nutella or Milk Chocolate with Whiskey. Regardless you are in for a sweet celebration! 

Please do tell what your favorite milkshake flavor(s) is, here on the blog or on our Facebook page. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate chocolate milkshakes…

 

Labor Day in Italy

Primo, Happy Labor Day to all our American friends!

Hopefully you are enjoying the Holiday… but if you are working, well so are we!

I’m afraid we are a bit late for celebrating Labor Day with our Italian counterparts since it was on May 1^st.... Better late than never, isn’t it?

May 1^st or “Primo Maggio” is a national holiday in Italy, as well as in most European countries.
The celebration also known as “la Festa dei Lavoratori” originally began when farmers and seasonal workers took the day off, ate, drank, and danced together on the first day of May, forgetting — for a few hours — the long days of summertime hard work that awaited them.

Now, it is a day to celebrate workers, especially all of those who fought for rights like an eight-hour work day and safety regulations. In much of Europe it is synonymous with labor movements and demonstrations: left political parties traditionally hit the streets and protest their various causes. 

In Italy, the celebrations end with the big, free music concert held in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome, where the most important Italian singers and many foreign guest stars perform before a festive audience.
Since May 1 fell on a Thursday this year (2012), Italians made "il ponte" (the bridge) from the holiday to the Sunday for a nice loooooong weekend.

Should you find yourself in Italy for on May 1^st, expect public transport to be limited. Hotels and restaurants usually have less personnel and most museums are closed. So why not  go on an adventure off the beaten path for the day?

Fun Dishes Made With Gelato

If asked what’s the best way to enjoy Gelato we would generally say, “in a cone or cup, with a spoon!” But this isn’t the only way to enjoy your favorite creamy sweet treat, so we began thinking of all the different ways you can use gelato as an ingredient in your favorite desserts. Here’s one of our favorites with an Italian flair!

Gelato Fruit Pizza

Needs: 1 pkg. of Sugar Cookie dough

            Soft Fruits and Berries of your choice

            1 pint of your favorite Pino Gelato flavor (although vanilla works best)

1. Roll one tube of sugar cookie dough out onto a heavily greased cookie sheet (or pizza pan) until it is about 9-12 inches in diameter. Sometimes it helps to use pre-cut cookies, arrange them together into a small circle, and simply roll the cookies together to make a larger crust.
2. Bake cookie crust as the directions on the package suggests. Normally 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow crust to rest for 5 minutes, then place crust in freezer to cool.
3. While crust is cooking, allow gelato to sit at room temperature to soften and become spreadable. Also, begin preparing your fruit. Use whatever type of fruit you like best. Typically softer fruits and berries work best like: orange segments, strawberries, kiwi, ripe peaches, pineapple, blueberries, and raspberries. As always, fresh fruit is better, but canned can be used in a pinch. 
4. After crust is cool to the touch (about 10 minutes), spoon and spread a generous portion of the gelato over the crust. More is better! Arrange the fruit on the pizza however you like, and place the pizza in the freezer for 20 more minutes to firm up.
5. Cut, garnish with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and ENJOY!

We hope you try this delicious recipe that is guaranteed to please the whole family. If you do, remember that ALL of the delicious Pino Gelato flavors are available for purchase by the pint. That way you can know that you are only using the best ingredients for your gelato pizza. Lastly, if you do try this recipe, take a picture and post it to our facebook page. Who knows, maybe you’ll get a little prize for doing so (hint, hint).

Gelato In America

Catherine de' Medic

Perhaps many of you did not know it, but gelato has a long and distinguished past dating all the way back to ancient Romans and Egyptians.  They would make frozen treats from snow and ice brought down from nearby mountaintops and store them underground.

In the 16th century, gelato re-emerged in the courts of Catherine de' Medici.   A Florentine cook by the name of Bernardo Buontalenti introduced his recipe and refrigeration techniques to court, and Catherine de’ Medici, in turn, brought the innovation to France. It is Buontalenti, who is credited as being the founder of  not only gelato but also ice cream.

With the 4th of July approaching, it has me thinking about gelato’s place in America.  Everyone knows the expression, “as American as apple pie and ice cream.” What you may not know is that gelato arrived here in America first. Giovanni Basiolo brought gelato from Italy to New York in 1770.  Gelato eventually evolved into ice cream, and the first ice cream parlor opened in 1776 in New York.

While gelato and ice cream have some similarities, there are key differences that you should know.  While a product legally must contain at least 10% butterfat to be considered ice cream, gelato contains less fat  - between 5 and 7%.  Gelato is also much denser than ice cream because less air is whipped into the mixture.  Less fat and less air means a creamier dessert with more intense flavors. Less fat also means less guilt with every bite.

So, we here at Pino Gelato are celebrating this 4th of July, and birth of our great nation, by having a slice of apple pie and…gelato! We hope you will consider doing the same.

Tough decisions...

When customers step in a Pino Gelato, they are amazed by the presentation and flavor varieties we offer. As they sample our flavors, it sometimes seems people have a harder time choosing a flavor than naming their first-born child!

Now, while we love our customers, we think it is time to make it even harder on you. That’s right, it’s time to add new flavors to our list!

But choosing flavors is not just hard on our customers! The Pino Gelato team needs your help choosing  new flavors that we can include in our stores. Do you enjoy traditional gelato flavors, like chocolate, hazelnut and pistachio…or are your favorites some of the non-traditional, like Reese’s and Cream or Ocean Caramel? 

Here’s where you come in… We have heard suggestions ranging from lilac to a chocolate-chocolate chip gelato. No idea is too ordinary or too wild (in fact, we can’t wait to hear the wild)! 

Straciatella (Chocolate Chip) is a traditional Italian flavor; while Peanut Butter hits the spot for others!

Please let us know what flavors you would like to see, whether you have seen it before, or you are the creator. In fact, we will name the best flavor suggestion after the person who suggests it for its first 2 months in our corporate store on Hilton Head Island, SC.

 We appreciate your input, and can’t wait to hear your ideas!