Gelato

Tangy, tart, and refreshing, with a bit of graham cracker crunch—just like the pie.
One of Ciao Bella's most popular recent flavor creations, this started as a seasonal offering for our chef customers and became wildly successful in our gelaterie. The popularity of Key Lime with Graham Cracker Gelato was a bit of a surprise because its flavor is decidedly tart, while Americans tend to have sweeter palates. There's always a fine line between creating what chefs appreciate and what customers will like, but in this case everyone was happy. This flavor is so popular that in less than a year it became our number-one retail gelato flavor in New York City.

Cajeta is a goat's-milk caramel popular in Mexico where it's made into candies or drizzled over ice cream and other desserts. The word cajeta is Spanish for "small box," named for the containers the caramel was traditionally packed in.
Making your own cajeta is worth the extra bit of work, but you can also buy it or substitute its South American cousin, dulce de leche.

The ice cream custard needs to infuse with the flavor of the cacao nibs overnight, so start preparing it two days ahead.

The satiny hazelnut-flavored chocolate called gianduia—named for the masked character Gianduia of the centuries-old Italian commedia dell'arte—makes for a gelato that is suave and intense.

This recipe comes from Katrina and Carmelo Turillo, owners of La Divina Gelateria in New Orleans.

A lovely little palate cleanser.

For the perfect ending, a not-too-sweet gelato is drizzled with limoncello, a lemon liqueur from Italy. Round out dessert with purchased cookies.

Almond extract deepens the flavor of fresh cherries in this summertime treat.

This dessert honors two good friends of the tomato—basil and cheese. Garnishes of candied cherry tomatoes and fried basil make it extra-special.

The pomegranate is a fall and winter fruit, so this gelato is appropriate for the season. Refreshing without being heavy, it has a beautiful blush-pink color, and the tanginess of the fruit cuts the richness of the dairy. The result is an irresistible autumnal dessert you won't soon forget.

Marsala, a Sicilian fortified wine, is traditionally used to flavor zabaglione, a light dessert custard. In this recipe, rum is added for a more intense flavor.

The dense, velvety texture of avocados produces a gelato of exceptional smoothness, with no added cream or egg. Though avocado may seem unusual as a sweet, it's commonly used as a dessert ingredient in Latin America. We call for a crushed vitamin C tablet here, which is the trick to retaining the bright green color of the avocados without affecting their flavor.

GELATO DI PESCA This recipe was sensational when we made it with ripe, flavorful peaches. If your peaches aren't great, try something similar, like nectarines.

(GELATO AL CIOCCOLATO) We tested this recipe with both regular and Dutch-process cocoa powders and loved both versions. The Dutch-process cocoa powder yields a slightly more intense flavor.

GELATO DI MELONE

Sicily, Italy In Sicily, gelato usually doesn't contain any cream or eggs. The coffee and chocolate-almond flavors here are true to tradition; the zabaglione is enriched with eggs.

This gelato, named after Bernardo Buontalenti, a sixteenth-century Florentine who may have been one of the world's original ice-cream makers, is made with any number of flavorings. The "secret" ingredient is usually a liqueur (such as Di Saronno Amaretto). A delicious alternative would be a pinch of mixed spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.