Nanette and I have been chatting up Gelato for over a good month now, this is an evil in itself.  We were going to make this particular recipe a couple weeks ago but we decided we should wait a couple weeks after our last gelato adventure;  I thought my waistline could use a wee break. Nanette found this wonderful recipe in her Arabesque cooking book.   What I am loving about these gelato recipes is that they are amazingly easy to make as well I like that they are lightly sweetened, which in turns bring out their true flavors – this one was the coffee!

Being in our winter months in the States, I decided to serve my gelato with a roasted pear.  I lightly glazed the pear in a little melted butter and lavender honey and then roasted it until slightly soft but golden in color.  The warmest of the cardamon and the slight bitterness of the coffee really melted into this roasted pear, the perfect companions.  My sweet friend, Nanette, being in the warm spring days of Australia, served her dish with seasonal berries which would also go very nicely with this gelato.  Regardless, it is so delicious and creamy, that all you really need is a spoon!

Recipe: Turkish Coffee Gelato

* source Arabesque (Greg & Lucy Malouf)

200g castor sugar – I could not find so I ground regular sugar in a coffee grinder

1/2 cup water

100g liquid glucose – I used equal parts water/sugar

3 cardamom pods, cracked

100g dark roasted, plan turkish coffee finely ground

60g best quality dark chocolate – at least 70%

12 egg yolks

2 pints heavy cream

Place the sugar, water, glucose, cardamom and coffee in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, making sure the sugar dissolves completely.  Simmer for 5 minutes then pour over the chocolate and stir until it melts.  Whip the egg yolks at high speed until they are light and fluffy.  Strain the coffee chocolate mixture through a coffee filter into the egg yolks and beat for a minute.  Add the cream and mix.  Refrigerate for 1 hours.  Pour into ice cream machine and process accordingly to your directions.  Serve.  Eat.