By Sandra Hoopes
Lifestyle Editor

Photo by Sandra Hoopes

Summer gelatos make for a great, light-calorie desert.

Summertime means ice cream but the high fat and calorie content are causing some people to look for an alternative to this popular frozen treat.

Ashley Abbot from Glendale is always looking for a way to cut calories without scrimping on flavor, particularly when she is trying to help her 12-year-old brother eat healthy and get into shape.

“I like to help my younger brother without letting him know that the food we are eating is low fat,” she says.

That usually takes a lot of effort to find diet foods that taste as good as the “real thing.”Gelato is an easy answer. This Italian-style ice cream doesn’t need any help to replace its high fat American counterpart. Gelato has always had a reputation for great tasting flavors and healthy ingredients without the use of artificial chemicals or preservatives. As it turns out, gelato is also lower in fat and calories than ice cream.

“Our gelato has 40 percent less fat than ice cream,” says Sheri Richmond of Grateful Spoon Gelato shop at 4410 N. 40th St. in Phoenix.

The Grateful Spoon is an artisan gelato shop that uses fresh ingredients and whole milk to make its own gelato daily. According to Richmond, the milk is what makes the difference in gelato. Using milk instead of cream saves both fat and calories.
Gelatos are much richer than ice cream, so smaller amounts are just as filling. This is also due to the reduced fat. The higher fat in cream freezes harder and requires air to be mixed into ice cream as it freezes in order for it to stay soft. That means that air is a large percent of the scoop on your cone. Because gelato does not have air whipped in, it is denser and has a more intense flavor.

The lower fat content means gelato can be served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream making the flavors easier to taste.
Some gelato doesn’t require milk fat at all.

“A lot of our gelatos are dairy free; we make them with fruit purees instead of milk,” says Richmond.
Gelato without milk is called sorbetto. Fresh fruit is pureed and mixed with sugar, water and sometimes gelatin. The result is an intensely flavored sorbetto with the taste of real fruit.

Grateful Spoon Gelato has been experimenting with making other desserts from their gelatos. For Saint Patrick’s Day, the manager, Jordan Lynn, created a special Guinness gelato and put it in a cup of Guinness to make a float. The shop’s neighbor, The Grand Orange, uses Grateful Spoon gelatos to make reduced fat breakfast smoothies.

Gelatos are perfect for drinks around the pool. Use flavors made from fruit purees (called sorbettos) for easy margaritas and daiquiris, or blend them with diet Squirt or Diet 7-Up for a refreshing mock-tail (non-alcoholic cocktail).

 Mango Gelato
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
2 large mangoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions
1. Make the mango puree by peeling the mangoes and cut into pieces. Place mango in a blender or food processor. Add the lemon juice. Puree the mango and put through a strainer. It should make about 1 1/4 cups mango puree. Cover and chill.
2. Add the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Whisk till pale yellow and slightly thick.
3. In a saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer. Turn off the heat. Whisk half of the milk mixture into the yolks. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil or over cook. If the eggs curdle slightly, you can save the mixture by blending in a blender.
4. Remove from heat and strain it into a large bowl. Let it cool for 5 or 6 minutes and then mix in mango puree.
5. Refrigerate for 5 or 6 hours or overnight.
6. Pour into a chilled ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions.

Strawberry Sorbetto 
16 oz fresh strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
Makes about 3 cups

Wash strawberries and remove the stems. Slice and combine with sugar. Cover and refrigerate until the sugar dissolves and the strawberries release juice. About an hour. Place strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add salt. Blend until smooth. Strain the strawberry mixture for a smoother sorbetto or leave them for amore rustic dessert.

Chill mixture and pour into an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's recommendations. Slice the strawberries and toss them in a medium bowl with the sugar and kirsch, if using, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve.