Every professional gelato craftsman knows that the most popular flavours change with customs, with new trends, but also with the seasons. So here are a few suggestions to offer in your hand-made gelato parlour this autumn.
Hazelnut
This nut is the fruit of the hazel tree, which Man has grown since ancient times. Regarded as the epitome of the nut family, the hazelnut is like a small fruit with a high oil and protein content and a good amount of fibre. Shelled, roasted, crushed or left whole, hazelnut is a common ingredient in making hand-made gelato and is also in great demand for making smoothies. So it is very important to choose the right nuts to use if you want to get that perfectly exquisite taste: it is easy to tell a hand-made gelato made with quality products by its light natural colour, but also because it contains slivers of hazelnut.
Chestnut
Chestnuts are another typically autumnal nut harvested towards the end of the year. Enclosed in a prickly shell, the sweet chestnut has excellent nutritional properties, including essential oils, proteins and sugars. Although not a flavour often used in gelato parlours, a hand-made chestnut gelato can be a surprising and tasty flavour to offer your customers. Chestnut is also an excellent ingredient for making delicious frozen desserts.
Fig
The fig is a very delicate fruit, picked mainly in September, which can be used for making an excellent hand-made gelato or delicious sorbets. Figs are difficult to keep if they are very mature, but you can freeze the flesh in a suitable chiller. With its greenish skin and soft red flesh, the delicate, sweet taste of figs gives excellent results when transformed into a hand-made gelato. The percentage of fresh fruit to use in making hand-made gelato should reach 50%, and the end result is a fresh, delicious gelato that is a sheer pleasure for the palate.
Pistachio
The pistachio is a plant from the Anacardiaceae family. Its fruit is green in colour and covered with a thin but amazingly hard shell. Pistachios are an excellent ingredient for making hand-made gelato, an irresistible flavour especially loved by children. Its creamy, slightly salty flavour goes well with chocolate, hazelnut and fruit flavours. A tasty snack or the perfect dessert for the beginning of the autumn season!
Coffee
Hand-made coffee gelato: classic, intense, and always popular. From the brown seed of a tropical tree in the genus Coffea from the Rubiaceae family comes a traditional flavour that is one of the staples of a gelato parlour. Coffee gelato is a perfect match for creamy flavours, such as chocolate, crema, vanilla, but can also be served as a sorbet or parfaits. A unique flavour capable of giving your customer a sublime experience, even with the advent of the first autumnal chill.