Ryazhanka Gelato

One of the best things about making gelato at home is how creative you can get. Take this ryazhanka gelato for example; It uses a unique type of Ukrainian milk with a traditional Sicilian style gelato method to create a dessert most people have never tried before.

One of the greatest things about traveling the world is finding or tasting unique flavors. Many times I will be in a new country and try a flavor I have never tasted before. And more often than not my first thought is “I wonder how this would be in an ice cream or gelato”. Of course, there is quite the difference between ice cream and gelato, but the idea is similar.

What Is Ryazhanka?

Ryazhanka, sometimes spelt ryazhenka in Belorussian, is a Ukrainian milk product that has a long and storied history. Traditionally it was made by putting milk and cream in earthenware jugs and left on a small fire to heat up slowly and over a long period of time. Eventually a brown crust would form and the milk would begin to ferment.

Ryazhanka is popular with children, and in Ukraine the giving of ryazhanka to kids before bed has been documented for hundreds of years. It is similar to russian varenets, Turkic qatic, or other styles of baked milk. However if you can get yourself to a Slavic grocery store I highly suggest picking up a bottle of authentic Ukrainian ryazhanka.

Can You Make Gelato With Ryazhanka?

Well now, this post would not exist if the answer was ‘no’. Of course you can make gelato with ryazhanka; It still is dairy after all. The thickness of the liquid, along with its natural caramel notes make it perfect for gelato as it is quite primed for dessert as is.

How To Make Ryazhanka Gelato

This ryazhanka gelato recipe uses the traditional Sicilian gelato method. That means there are only a few ingredients, and the mixture is thickened with corn starch. Don’t be put off, the starch only acts as a binder in the same way eggs do in other types of gelati and ice creams.

Ingredients

• 400 ml Ryazhanka Ukrainian Baked Milk (Ideally you want one with a high milkfat percentage as those tend to taste the most nutty and caramel-y, but you might have to make due with what you can find).
• 200 ml Heavy Cream
• 120 grams Sugar
• 24 grams Corn Starch
• 1/4 tsp Salt

What You’ll Need

As with all of my ice cream recipes on Scoops of Delight, you need an ice cream machine. The exact style and brand does not matter too much but you do want one that is decent quality. I personally use the Smeg ice cream maker. The only issue with it is that you need to already have a Smeg stand mixer – which can be quite pricey. While there are plenty of recipes for no-churn ice creams, I often find a properly churned ice cream magnitudes better.

Some other things you will need for this homemade ice cream recipe are:

• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk
• Steel Pans (I personally find steel the best for making ice cream, but you can use any as long as you are careful about the temperature.
• Rubber Spatula
• Sealable Container (The best thing to use to store homemade ice cream is plastic in my opinion. You want something that is more flat than tall as it provides more surface area to quickly freeze in a home freezer).
• Kitchen Scale (optional, but recommended as almost all of my recipes use metric as it is more precise than imperial for most home cooks).

Steps To Make Ryazhanka Gelato At Home

For this ryazhanka gelato recipe I prefer to start with a cold pan. Simply add all of the ingredients except the heavy cream to a pan and place on low heat. Whisk until everything is combined. You can gently raise the heat a bit while whisking to start the corn starch thickening reaction. Do not let the mix come to a boil, rather turn off the heat once you see steam trails rise from the surface.

Once the heat is off you can whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture should stay quite thick as the heavy cream itself is quite thick so don’t worry about making a very runny gelato base. Once the heavy cream is mixed into the ryazhanka base move the mixture to a container and place in the fridge to chill completely.

Once the mix has chilled completely in the fridge pour it into your ice cream or gelato machine and let run according to your machines instructions. If you are using a pure ice cream machine, make sure to set the speed to the lowest setting as gelato has much less air incorporated compared with traditional ice cream.

Place the homemade ryazhanka gelato into a sealable container and place in the fridge until it reaches a temperature between -10 and -15 Celsius. If your freezer goes much colder than that you may need to let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so before serving.

How To Serve Ryazhanka Gelato

If you want to opt for something a little fancier than ice cream in a sugar or waffle cone, you can actually plate it with some garnishes. Even something as simple as chocolate ice cream will sometimes have sprinkles or hot fudge. For this ryazhanka gelato I would suggest some chopped, roasted walnuts make a great pairing!

Ryazhanka Gelato

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