Fig & Toasted Almond Liquid Nitrogen Gelato

Serves 8-10

Every year I have the opportunity to play Mr. Wizard at work on “Take Your Children to Work Day”. This year I made Liquid Nitrogen gelato for the kids and they loved both the show and the taste of the gelato. I had fun at the same time J If you have access to liquid nitrogen and you know how to safely handle it this is a great dessert for a party—if not just use your ice cream maker.

Having fun with molecular gastronomy

4 C Whole Milk
1 Vanilla Bean (split)
1 C Sugar
3 TBS plus 2 tsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 C Fig Preserve

1 C Almond Slices (toasted)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds in a single layer on an ungreased shallow baking pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden. Start watching it at 10 minutes to make sure they do not burn. Place them on a plate in the refrigerator to cool.

Heat 3 cups of milk with the split vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat.

In a medium bowl whisk the remaining 1 C of whole milk with the sugar and cornstarch until incorporated.

When the milk comes to a simmer (small bubbles around the edge of the pot) take it off the heat and add the cornstarch mixture, stirring continuously until well mixed. Return the saucepan to medium-low and keep stirring until it starts to thicken. This will take 10 to 12 minutes—do not walk away. You must stir continuously or the milk will burn. It will end up the thickness of gravy and should coat the back of a spoon.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into a mixing bowl, whisk in the vanilla extract, and cool on the counter for 20 minutes. Place the gelato mixture in a sealed container for 2-12 hours in the refrigerator.

At this point you can put the gelato base into an ice cream maker using the manufacturer's instructions or you can get adventurous and make Liquid Nitrogen (LN) gelato. If you decide to go the LN route, safety is top priority. Liquid nitrogen splashed or poured on the skin will instantly freeze anything it touches. Use extreme caution. Here are some sites you should check out before proceeding.

Material Safety Data Sheet for Liquid Nitrogen

Mark Powell's Food Hacking site

Molecular Gastronomy  Wikipedia

If you are using liquid nitrogen to make your gelato, put on your face shield and cryo gloves. Place the gelato mixture into the metal bowl (do not use a glass bowl) of an electric mixer. Turn the mixer to medium-low and slowly add the liquid nitrogen a little at a time. Keep adding the LN until the gelato mixture looks semi-hard.

Put 1 cup of fig jam into a bowl and mix up so that it loosens. Slowly fold in the fig jam and the toasted almonds into the gelato.

You can serve it immediately as a soft serve or you can place in a closed container in the freezer until completely set (about 2-4 hours).

To print this recipe, go to Fig & Toasted Almond Liquid Nitrogen Gelato