Almond Gelato

Makes about 1 quart (can be doubled for half-gallon machines)

Here’s a surprisingly light gelato, perfect for a summer treat on the deck or along-
side an autumn apple tart. Almond gelato also makes for one terrific hot fudge
sundae—like a cold but soft Almond Joy bar!
²³⁄ cups whole milk
¹⁄ cup heavy cream
One 7-ounce tube almond paste (see Note)
²⁄ cup sugar
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
¹⁄ teaspoon almond extract
¹⁄ teaspoon salt
1. Heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until tiny
bubbles fizz around the pan’s inner rim. Adjust the heat so the mixture stays this
hot but does not come to a boil.
2. Place the almond paste and sugar in a large food processor fitted with the chop-
ping blade; process until the texture of fine sand, about 1 minute. Stop the ma-
chine, add the yolks all at once, and process until light and thick, about 2 minutes.
3. With the machine running, dribble in about half of the hot milk mixture through
the feed tube; process until smooth. Then whisk this mixture back into the pan
with the remaining hot milk mixture. Instantly reduce the heat to very low—if
you have electric burners, place the pan on a second one just now set on low.
Cook slowly, stirring all the while, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of
wet but smooth pancake batter and can coat the back of a wooden spoon, a little
less than 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to get rid
of any extraneous bits of scrambled egg; stir in the almond extract and salt. Re-
frigerate until cold, for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
4. Just before making the gelato, place the almond custard and your ice cream ma-
chine’s dasher, if possible, in the freezer to shock them extra cold, for no more
than 10 minutes.
5. Freeze the custard in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s in-
structions. Serve at once—or transfer to a large container or several smaller con-
tainers, seal tightly, and store in the freezer for up to 1 month; soften at room
temperature for up to 10 minutes before serving.