GELATO AND SORBET WITH ALCOHOL
05/06/2025
Why create gelati and sorbetti with alcohol?
For Gianpaolo Valli, the answer is very simple: for a gelatiere, it's important to diversify their offering, standing out from the competition by creating flavors that reflect their style, experience, and personal approach.
To achieve this, it's essential to explore new ingredients and pairings, while staying up to date with emerging trends and what the gelato market — and beyond — has to offer.
Alcohol-based combinations are always appreciated: from fine dining to pastry, we all know at least one dish or dessert made with an alcoholic beverage. So why not follow this trend in the world of gelato as well?
To do so, the gelatiere must overcome certain challenges related to the technical properties of alcohol. This ingredient has a very low freezing point and can compromise both the structure of the mix and its balance in terms of sweetness.
Properly balancing a recipe that includes alcohol is a fundamental skill: only by learning how alcohol affects the mixture and the final product can a gelatiere achieve truly complete technical preparation.
For this reason, Carpigiani Gelato University has developed a specialization course focused on techniques for balancing gelato and sorbets with alcohol. The course teaches how to transform pure alcoholic beverages and a wide range of cocktails into original gelato and sorbets flavors that can be displayed alongside traditional ones.
A systematic approach has been established for increasing ethanol in the gelato mix — which, as we know, cannot be too high — and reference ranges have been defined for the addition of alcohol, taking into account other ingredients (like sugar) that also lower the freezing point.
Learning how to properly balance recipe with alcohol is key not only to achieving a stable structure suitable for display, but also to expanding a gelateria’s offering with innovative flavors alongside the classics.
In many countries, there is a traditional beverage — whether it's wine, beer, a cocktail, or a spirit — and recreating it in gelato or sorbetto form can become a distinctive feature for the gelatiere, enriching the storytelling with strong local roots.
Not only wine and beer, but also cocktails like Bellini, Piña Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, or granitas with alcohol are highly appreciated and perfect for events and aperitifs. The possibilities are endless: for example, transforming an Aperol Spritz into a granita, sorbetto, or gelato.
Gianpaolo Valli also emphasizes that mastering the balance of an alcoholic gelato recipe not only allows the gelatiere to broaden their product offering, but also to create items suitable for other consumption contexts.
Gelato with alcohol can become a unique and appealing option for restaurants, wine bars, or venues that serve aperitifs and happy hour — making it an excellent idea for those producing under private label as well.
Comments (0)