Express Nutella gelato with the Thermomix

Nutella contains a lot of solids that help the gelato thicken quickly, giving a very dense, creamy texture right at the end of churning: no ice crystals, no waiting in the freezer before serving.

Why it works without cooking anything

Classic gelato bases involve a cooked custard with egg yolks, which gives structure and stops the water from freezing into crystals. Here Nutella already does that job: sugars, fats and hazelnut powder bind the water in the milk, so you can skip cooking and the following wait in the fridge entirely.

Powdering the sugar at the start isn't a fussy extra step: ground into icing sugar it dissolves instantly in the cold liquids, while coarse crystals would stay suspended and give that gritty feeling in your mouth.

The mistakes that ruin the result

• Ingredients not cold enough. The milk and cream should come straight out of the fridge right before use: the colder the mixture goes into the ice cream maker, the less time it spends in the temperature range where ice crystals form.
• Nutella straight from the fridge. It needs to be at room temperature, otherwise it stays lumpy and won't emulsify: if you see dark specks through the lid hole, give it another 10 seconds at speed 5.
• Churning too long. Stop as soon as the gelato is ready: going past that point heats the mixture through friction and breaks it down.

Variations and pairings

With an extra spoonful of Nutella drizzled in during the last two minutes you get the ripple effect. If you like a crunchy contrast, add toasted chopped hazelnuts along with the ripple: the same idea I use in walnut gelato. For a more intense version, swap 50 g of the milk for the same amount of cream.

How to store it

In the freezer, in a shallow, wide container with cling film pressed onto the surface, it keeps well for about ten days. Since it has no industrial preservatives or stabilizers it tends to harden: take it out 10 minutes before serving and it goes back to perfectly creamy.