How to make lemon ice cream

In the next post we are going to detail how to make lemon ice cream , a recipe that does not go out of style and is capable of surprising the little ones and adults as well.

Perhaps for many, the name of the Italian singer that I am going to name will mean nothing. On the other hand, for others he is famous, especially for a song called Un Gelato al Limone .

I'm talking about Paolo Conte. He dedicated a theme to this classic of artisan ice cream, so appreciated by consumers, especially on the hottest days of summer for its refreshing and aromatic qualities.

Although the lemon has inspired many singers and poets, the subject of lemon ice cream in ice cream parlors is quite controversial, with very few areas where you can taste this precious delicacy without being somewhat disappointed.

Following a little to what we have said on previous occasions, most ice cream parlors develop this type of ice cream from semi-finished products , both for the aromatic part and for the structural part. Large industrial companies provide complete products, where you only have to add a preset amount of water to get ice cream.

We have these complete products both to develop a water-based sorbet and a cream with dairy products. In addition, for many ice cream makers they represent a quick and economical solution to fix production , especially on hot and busy summer days.

It must be said that they are the most used, not only in ice cream parlors, but also in all HORECA establishments to develop sorbets, slushies, smoothies and other types of final products.

Apart from the complete products, there are plenty of aromatic products, both in powder and paste, that ice cream makers use to flavor their own structural parts, the result of their wisdom or that of a company that sells them the semi-finished products (this without talk about those who directly purchase a finished product, ready to pour into the freezer, without any knowledge).

But let's get to the point: how to make lemon ice cream from scratch

Is it preferable to do it in cream or in sorbet?

What should its characteristics be so that it is as faithful to the nature of the main ingredient, that is, lemon?

The first thing that the professional who starts making this ice cream has to do is see where he gets a good quality of lemons , from which he will use the juice, the skin or both.

The question would be: Can you make lemon ice cream even with the outer rind? Well, of course, that would be the answer.

We can create an excellent lemon ice cream using only its juice, or only its rind, or by mixing both ingredients , obtaining surprisingly different results in terms of flavor and aroma of the finished ice cream.

Obviously the choice of which ingredients we will use will be essential when buying lemons in the market. It must be taken into account that there are many varieties, with different aromas and with more or less juice, or more or less rind... All this without forgetting that we will not always have the same quality of lemons and, therefore, the same quality of ice cream produced .

What is really handmade and natural puts us before many options and realities that we will have to solve in the best way if we want our business to run correctly.

Once decided whether to develop a cream with dairy or a sorbet, we will try to define how we flavor by following these three options:

1. Squeeze lemons (more or less a kilo of juice is extracted from 3 kilos of lemons)
2. Mix one part juice and one part blended rind
3. Use only the blended crust

In the case of juice , we will aromatize by putting in a recipe a total quantity that is between 18% and 25%, depending on the aromatic load that we want to give to the ice cream. If we use a mixture between rind and juice, a good ratio would be between 12-15% juice and 5-7% rind.

Finally, if we decide to use only the blended crust (the recipe that we like the most, being a lover of low PH), we will keep between 10% and 15%, always depending on the aromatic strength that we want to give to our frozen.

Regarding personality, if we make a sorbet we will add a part of water, a couple of sugars, some support ingredients to the colloidal solution, and a good mix of hydrocolloids (Neutral), which takes into account our production process and the particularity of this ice cream, so loaded with citric acid. If, on the other hand, we are going to make a cream, we will take into account a minimum amount of fat, animal and/or vegetable, a percentage of proteins that support the emulsion, sugars and also a good neutral suitable for this type of ice cream.