Cinnamon Swirl Gelato with Mini Apple Pies
I’ll have some of that!
What happens when you take brown sugar, cinnamon and add it to rich, creamy gelato? Top it with an adorable mini apple pie and you’ve got a recipe for an America meets Italy dream desert!
The Italian version of ice cream, Gelato is like ice cream’s dreaminess jacked up about ten notches. It has everything you want in a sweet frozen treat plus more creamy smooth texture topped with rich custardy yumminess. In other words, it’s WAY better. Not only that, it actually has less fat than ice cream. Bonus, right? Hey, I gotta promo my gelato!
After you have a bite of this, you’re not gonna give two thoughts about any of that anyway because it’s so decadently delicious. Dangerous, no?
Gelato starts out with sugar and lot’s of egg yolks. That’s where it gets it’s richness from. For this recipe, you’ll need 7 egg yolks. Yes, that’s a lot and yes, you’ll have 7 egg whites left over like, what? Don’t worry, you can always make an Post to Post Links II error: No post found with slug "angels-in-my-cake-its-the-eggs-travaganza-finale" with them.
You’ll need a large, heavy bottomed pot to heat up some milk and heavy whipping cream. Keep the heat on the down low because you never want to boil this mixture. Simply bring the milk and cream to 180 degrees F.
After it reaches that temp, you’ll temper your eggs. Have the eggs and sugar whisked to a creamy yellow and add a ladle of the hot milk mix to the eggs. Whisk that together and add another ladle at a time until about half the milk mix is in.
Once you have your eggs tempered, you’ll whisk them into the pot with the remaining milk and cream. Tempering the eggs before you put them into the pot keeps them from turning into scrambled eggs.
Heat the mixture through and bring it back to 180 degrees F. over med/low heat.
Strain the mixture into a large bowl through a fine wire mesh sieve and stir in some vanilla and a little salt.
Place some plastic directly on top of the mix and refrigerate over night.
I know… the agony!
But you really have to have this stuff as cold as possible before you put it into your ice cream machine.
When the gelato mix is cold and ready, you’ll process it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
It’ll take about 45 minutes to process the gelato. While you’re waiting, go ahead and make that extra umph cinnamon swirl mix.
Combine some brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, water and a pinch of salt in a small sauce pan. Heat over low until every thing is melted through. This will have a bit of a grainy feel to it when it’s done. That’s what we want because we’re looking for a sort of almost crunch texture. Set the pan aside to cool.
Once your Gelato is finished processing, stir the cooled cinnamon mixture through. Place the gelato in a container and cover. Freeze for a couple of hours or until hardened to your liking.
While you’re waiting on the gelato to firm up, go ahead and make those adorable little mini pies to garnish your dish with.
Combine your sliced apples, some apple cider, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and a little salt. Heat over med/hi in a large skillet and cook 6 to 7 minutes.
Mix some corn starch in a little of the apple cider and stir that into the apple mixture and cook for one minute more. Set aside to cool.
To make the crust for the pies, you’ll need to roll out one 9-inch Post to Post Links II error: No post found with slug "blue-hubbard-squash-pie-some-kind-of-wonderful". Cut out twenty 2-1/2 rounds or squares.
Place 1 tablespoon of the apple mixture in the center of ten of the cut outs. Use a little water to brush the edges of the dough and cover with the rest of the cut outs.
Crimp the edges with a fork and brush the tops with an egg wash. Cut an X in the top of each mini pie.
Magically, after I baked my square mini pies at 375 degrees F. they turned into round pies. Amazing, huh?
Actually, I couldn’t decide if I wanted squares or rounds. Either way, both batches tasted great and had a wonderful flaky texture.
Which do you prefer? Square or Round mini apple pies?
In the end, the round mini pies won me over.
Though it seems like a lot of work, the hands on time for making gelato isn’t so much. If you’re a foodie fiend like me, waiting for that mix to cool is totally worth it. This rich cinnamon swirl gelato with those sweet little mini apple pies is pure bliss. I’m pretty sure you’re gonna be smiling once you have a bowl in front of you, too!
I hope you’ll give them a try and let me know how much you enjoyed!
Have a fantastic day friends and as always, keep it delicious!
Till next time ~ much love, Connie
Cinnamon Swirl Gelato with Mini Apple Pies
Ingredients
- Cinnamon Swirl Gelato
- 7 egg yolks
- 2/3 C granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 C whole milk
- 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Mini Apple Pies
- 1 9 inch pie crust
- 1 lg granny smith apple peeled, cored and diced
- 1/3 C apple cider 2 tbsp set aside
- 1/4 C brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Cinnamon Swirl Gelato
- In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until the eggs are creamy yellow.
- In a large pot, combine the milk and cream and heat over medium until the mixture is just about to simmer. (180 degrees F.) Do not allow to boil.
- Turn the heat off and use a ladle to gradually add the warm milk mixture to the egg mixture. Whisk each addition in to temper the eggs (keep them from becoming cooked).
- After about half the warm milk is added to the eggs, add the mixture to the pot with the remaining milk and stir.
- Turn the heat back on to medium and cook to thicken, stirring constantly.
- The temp should reach 180 degrees F but never boil.
- Using a fine wire mesh sieve, strain the hot liquid into a large bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt.
- Stir well and cover with plastic wrap.
- Make sure the wrap is actually laying directly on top of the mixture so that a skin does not form.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- In a small sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, butter, water, cinnamon and salt. Heat on low until the sugar is melted. The texture will be a bit grainy. Set aside to cool.
- Place the gelato mixture in your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturers instructions. Before removing from the ice cream maker, drop in spoonfuls of the brown sugar mixture until all is incorporated. Stir through.
- Transfer the gelato to a storage container. Cover with a lid and allow to harden in freezer for about 2 hours.
- Mini Apple Pies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt.
- Heat on medium and stir occasionally for 7 to 8 minutes or until the apples begin to soften.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and reserved cider.
- Stir the cider mixture into the apple mixture and cook for one minute.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Roll the pie dough out to 1/8 inch thick.
- Use a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or ravioli cutter to cut out squares or rounds.
- Place a tablespoon of the apple mixture in the center of each cut out.
- Brush water around the outside rim and cover with another cut out.
- Crimp the outside edges with a fork to seal.
- Place the filled mini pies on a lined baking sheet.
- Whisk together the egg white and tablespoon of water.
- Brush the egg mixture over the apple pies.
- Cut a tiny x in the top of each pie.
- Bake until golden brown on top. About 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Serve the gelato with a mini pie for garnish.
Notes
What is Happy Belly Foodie all about? Keeping it delicious! 
This is the best dessert recipe I’ve seen in a long time. Can’t wait to make this for dinner guests and totally blow them away! Love it and thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Karrie. We had a lot of fun making this one. Those little pies go quick! 😉