Italian “Crema” Ice Cream (Gelato alla Crema) - To Die For!

I don’t really watch a lot of television, but one series I’m hooked on is Killing Eve. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil anything, but I can safely tell you that it’s not a cooking show. Despite that, a recent episode set in Rome inspired this Italian “crema” ice cream video, which isn’t exceptionally delicious because of what’s in it, but rather what isn’t.

Gelato alla crema is the answer to the question, “What would vanilla ice cream taste like without any vanilla?” Without any other flavors to get in the way, all you taste is the sweet goodness of milk, and cream, which I think is a revelation. Most gelato alla crema recipes say you can add an optional spoon of vanilla, but I’m not making that same offer, and really think you should keep this pure “crema.”

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still produce a decent version using one of the many alternative methods, or “hacks” as the kids call them, available online. If you do a web search you’ll see lots of different approaches, most involving ice, salt, and a few plastic freezer bags. Here’s one that outlines that process from Instructables; but my favorite is probably the ice cube tray method from Serious Eats, which is covered in this post. But regardless of how you make it, I really hope you give this less-is-more, Italian crema ice cream a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 3 1/2 cups of Italian Crema Ice Cream:

2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar

5 egg yolks

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup heavy cream

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