Almond and Pistachio Gelato Style Ice Cream - Low Carb

 In Italy, Gelato was served pretty much everywhere we went.  Sometimes just in large bins like you see ice cream served in shops in the US or sometimes 'pretty' and shaped like roses (photo below).  It was SO creamy and cold and good.

And my recipe for today's Gelato is nothing like that.  It just can't be because of the way Gelato is made (slow churned, less air, etc)


Gelato in one of the many shops in Rome....

Blurry - as I snapped it quickly as we were walking by, but you can see the rose shapes made from the Gelato for sale.

Gelato is made with a higher percentage of whole milk than cream and it's slow churned so it incorporates less air than ice cream.  It's also served not quite as 'frozen' as ice cream.  So really, the only reason I'm calling what I made gelato is because it isn't ice cream.  :)

First off; I hate clutter. Even in my refrigerator.
So when I'm down to the last little cup or less of cream, half and half, almond milk, coconut milk, etc. and I've bought replacements at the grocery store... I want those 'almost empty' containers gone.  Gone I tell you!  Poof.

Yesterday I had the remains of heavy cream, half and half and almond/coconut milk to use up.  What would I make with those three items?  ICE CREAM OF COURSE.  And even though I usually make homemade ice creams in flavors the other members of our family like, there is NO ONE ELSE here to worry about this week.  The Husband is on a business trip, the youngest daughter is at college all week and this ice cream would be mine, all mine.

Because we eat low carb and sugar free, we almost always have a nut mix on hand for snacking.  I simply went through and grabbed a  bunch of almonds and pistachios from the deluxe nut mix.

And here are the containers I wanted to use up!

The more heavy cream you use, the more 'ice cream' like this is.  Try to have 2 cups of heavy cream if you can.  The other 2 cups being either half and half, almond milk, coconut milk or both. 

Low Carb Gelato Like Ice Cream - Almond Coconut Milk Based

4 cups of a mixture of almond-coconut milk, half and half, and heavy cream

3/4 - 1 c mixed sweeteners - I use a mix of Truvia, Ideal and Swerve with a little liquid sucra-drops

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 t glycerin (the kind used in ice creams and frosting, etc)

3 egg yolks

2/3 c pistachios and almonds mixed

In a pan on the stove, heat and stir your nuts to give them a nice toasted flavor.  Take the pan from the stove and remove the nuts.  In a bowl, lightly beat the 3 egg yolks. Pour the 4 cups of milk/cream into the 'nuts' pan and bring back to the stove over medium and stir until it starts to just barely simmer with tiny bubbles around the edges.  Remove from heat and while whisking, start to drizzle/pour about a cup of the hot milk mixture in the egg yolks.  Don't pour and let set or your eggs will cook.  As soon as you have whisked in the milk to the eggs, pour it back into the pan with the rest of the hot milk.  Add the vanilla, sweeteners and glycerin.  Stir or whisk till blended.

Now you can put all of it into a blender or a food processor and give it a few pulses to mix, add the nuts and pulse a couple more times.  The more you pulse the smaller your nuts will be.  Your choice.

The best thing to do at this point is use it in your favorite ice cream maker.  Which is what I was going to do until at this point, I realized we no longer HAVE our electric ice cream maker that doesn't use ice and rock salt.  I completely forgot we donated it with the intention of me ordering a new, higher powered one.  That I never ordered.  Not wanting to drive to a gas station or store to buy ice, I decided to pour and freeze.  So if you wish, pour into a container and place in the deep freeze.  Around 12 hours or so, take it out and stir it up as the nuts will have settled to the bottom.  Mix it up and put it back in the freezer for another 8-10 hours.  Then, enjoy!

(I actually had it for breakfast this morning, again for a late afternoon snack - in which I poured 1/2 cup of strong coffee over it - yum!)