This Roasted Fig Gelato is incredibly rich and creamy, made with fresh figs and mascarpone cheese. Best of all, it stays beautifully scoopable even after a night in the freezer.
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Mascarpone makes this gelato especially rich and creamy, and figs are such a natural match for it. Black Mission figs have deep color, great flavor, and a real presence that doesn’t get lost in the creamy base.
Figs have wonderful flavor, but fruit can lose some of its intensity once you add cream and freeze it. This gelato really came alive when I added a few small but important ingredients during the last few minutes of churning: a splash of brandy, a little balsamic vinegar, and, most important, fresh lemon juice. Together they sharpen the fig flavor and keep it from getting lost in all that richness.
This is definitely a more grown-up flavor ~ perfect for a dinner party, though probably not the first pick for most kids. Which, now that I think about it, may not be such a bad thing. More for us.
Tips for the best homemade fig gelato
- Use ripe Black Mission figs for the deepest color and flavor.
- Roasting concentrates the figs and keeps their flavor from disappearing into the dairy.
- Mascarpone adds richness and helps give the gelato that dense, creamy texture.
- Don’t skip the lemon juice ~ it makes the fig flavor much more vivid.
- Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before scooping if it’s been frozen longer than overnight.
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Roasted Fig Gelato
Equipment
- ice cream machine
Ingredients
- 1 lb Black Mission figs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 8 oz package of mascarpone cheese, an Italian cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Brandy
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Set oven to 400F
- Rinse and cut off the stems of the figs. Slice them in half and lay out, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes.
- Put the roasted figs into a food processor and puree them until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the machine a few times to make sure you get everything thoroughly pureed. Chill the puree.
- Put the cream, sugar, condensed milk, and mascarpone cheese in the food processor or blender. Process until the marscapone is completely blended into the cream. Chill the mixture.
- When everything is really cold, pour the cream mixture into your ice cream machine along with the fig puree. Process until almost finished, and then add in the vinegar, Brandy, and lemon juice. Taste the ice cream to adjust the amounts. Continue to process according to your machine’s directions.
- Fold the soft gelato into a container and put it in the freezer for at least several hours to allow it to firm up.
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Hi Sue, I landed on your site from Bewitching Kitchen, glad I did, I have enjoyed visiting your site. I have been making ice cream all summer, always looking for something different to try. Your fig gelato looks delicious!!
Check out my site sometime, I am a woodworker, love to cook, bake and grill, hiking and gardening too! Here is a recent post on my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
Michael 🙂
https://michaelswoodcraft.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/vanilla-ice-cream-2/
I don’t even like figs, but this sounds and looks delicious!
WOW that gelato looks fantastic. I can’t wait to give it a try.
I want this, I need this, I must have this. This is serious grown up ice cream. Can’t wait to try it.
I love the mascarpone and touch of balsamic in your gelato, what a treat!
I love figs and ice cream, roasted figs sound divine!
Thanks Nik, I think this was my first taste of figs in ice cream and I’m hooked!
Another fabulous idea Sue. I love the thought of roasted figs and mascarpone in the ice cream!
Thanks Chris…if there’s time left this summer I may well experiment with the mascarpone again.
Wow – your pictures are stunning! I have never thought of the idea of adding figs to gelato, but I’m seriously intrigued and can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Marly! The thing about figs is that they have very little moisture compared to most other fruits, so they do well in ice creams and gelatos.
I just happen to have a bunch of figs and this looks amazing!
Figs are just coming into season, yay!
This sounds fantastic, Sue! I love figs and the mascarpone in the recipe must make it so creamy and delicious.
Thanks Susan — I think the mascarpone did the trick.