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Stracciatella Ice Cream

At my kid’s suggestion, I kicked off summer this year with a new Cuisinart ice cream machine. Seriously, best decision ever made. The motivation; is our family trip to Copenhagen last Spring. The food scene in this charming little city is truly amazing. From fine dining to street food, the Danes are absolutely killing it.

Stracciatella ice cream

While visiting Copenhagen, my younger son (who is a true sweetaholic), could not get enough of their delicious local artisanal ice cream. Luckily for him, we were staying near one of Copenhagen’s most loved and well-known ice cream parlors, Vaffelbageren which opened daily on the early side. Grabbing a freshly made waffle cone topped with a few scoops of ice cream quickly became a routine as we set out to explore for the day.

Stracciatella ice cream

My son is somewhat chocolate-obsessed, and his love affair with classic chocolate ice cream has always been strong. But the tide changed a bit in Copenhagen when he tried Stracciatella for the very first time. For those unfamiliar, Stracciatella is similar to chocolate chip ice cream–but it is by no means the same. The base is rich, creamy, and indulgent and the bittersweet chocolate flakes are so delicate that they dissolve in your mouth almost instantly making this flavor so distinct.

Stracciatella ice cream

Stracciatella translates to “rags” or “shards“, which are woven into a flavorful vanilla custard-like ice cream in a slightly untraditional way. Unlike American chocolate chip ice cream, Stracciatella is made by drizzling a fine stream of melted chocolate directly into the churning vanilla custard. As a result, the chocolate solidifies on contact, freezing it into delicate flakes that fuse with the ice cream and literally melt in your mouth instantly upon eating. My son was hooked and so was I.

It is said Scratchatella originated in Bergamo, in Northern Italy, at the Ristorante La Marianna in the early 1960’s. Stracciatella ice cream was actually inspired by Stracciatella soup, an Italian version of egg drop soup which is a popular dish throughout Rome. To this day Stracciatella remains one of the most renowned Italian gelato flavors in the world.

Stracciatella ice cream

Stracciatella was the first of several ice creams I made on my new machine and it did not disappoint. With its decadent base and its delicate crunchy chocolate texture, I had successfully recreated the ultimate indulgence from our vacation so worthy you could justify having it for breakfast, at least if you asked my son that is.

A Note on Gelato and Ice cream

“Gelato” is the Italian word for “ice cream”. Although it starts out with a similar custard base as ice cream, gelato has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs (sometimes having no eggs at all). Gelato is churned at a much slower rate than ice cream which incorporates less air and leaves the gelato denser than ice cream. Gelato is served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream giving it a silkier, softer texture.

Stracciatella ice cream

About the Author

Andrea Potischman

I am a professionally trained NYC chef turned CA mom and food blogger. I post about real food, with doable ingredient lists that are family friendly.

6 thoughts on "Stracciatella Ice Cream"

  1. Avatar photo Xenia says:

    I found your site as I searched recipes for Spinach Stromboli…and yes, I’ll be following your instructions next week as I prepare party food. So I am perusing your site and love it! This recipe for Stracciatella Ice Cream is beautiful. But I do have one little hint for you regarding the melted chocolate…have you tried adding a little refined coconut oil to the melted chocolate? Because of it’s low melting point (it melts on the tongue), coconut oil keeps those chocolate shreds in your ice cream from being too hard as they melt in your mouth. Now as you enjoy that luxuriously creamy treat, those “chips” will become like chocolate silk. For this recipe here, probably 2-3 Tbsp coconut oil will do the trick. You probably know that refined coconut oil doesn’t taste like coconut, hence, that’s the right choice here, as opposed to unrefined. Again, Love your website! I’m going to subscribe!

    1. Thanks for your comment and your lovely compliment. Great tip re: the recipe. I was passing this off a place I had it at in Copenhagen, so I did not sue that trick in this recipe, but I agree it’s a great tip so I appreciate you mentioning it. Be well, stay safe and keep on cooking.

  2. Avatar photo Roz Potischman says:

    It’s 3:00 A.M. in NYC and I am up! What better time than to check emails…and there it is! You bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker and I am a goner. I’ve read it all including the Grand Marnier soufflé! It’s as good a read as “Gone with the Wind.” As I have told you, l love reading your background information and, especially, stories of my son (for example, his love of pie for breakfast – who knew!) and my grandsons (oh, the places they’ve been; the things they eat; breadth of their palates and the exposure you’ve given them from your own kitchen to Copenhagen, Iceland and other stops along the way). If I were ever to cook anything again, I would have only Simmer+Sauce print outs on my kitchen shelf. You are amazing.

    1. Thanks Roz, you are too kind 🙂

  3. Avatar photo Neal Potischman says:

    Great post and recipe.

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