Strawberry Gelato

Gelato alla fragola

Fabbri makes wild strawberries preserved in syrup that bring the flavors of a ripe, sweet berry to your table year round. I love this version of gelato—it’s so easy and requires no cooking.

Yield

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 cups chilled heavy cream 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk ½ cup chopped strawberries in syrup, such as Fabbri, plus 3 tablespoons syrup from the jar, plus more for serving 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Recipe

Whisk the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl until light and foamy. Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturers’ instructions. When the gelato is almost done, add the strawberries, syrup, vanilla, and almond extract through the feed tube. Churn 5 minutes more, until very thick.

Pack into a lidded container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Scoop into bowls to serve, topping with more strawberries and syrup.

TIE ONE ON:

Fruit Cocktails

My family and I have enjoyed wonderful times together vacationing in the Caribbean. In the evenings, after we’ve spent the days swimming and exploring, we often gather on the terrace to share a cocktail. Being the islands, it’s usually a refreshing fruit-forward drink, which I especially love.

When I return home, I usually bring some Caribbean rum back with me, so I can recreate those delicious cocktails and be reminded of the gentle island breezes and of those happy times together. One of my favorites, an island classic, is a rum punch, made with both light and dark rum, grenadine, and a combination of orange, lime, and pineapple juices. (The rum punch was actually invented in India but brought to the Caribbean with British sailors in the 1600s, who drank it in place of the beer and wine they couldn’t get so far from home.) It’s nice to serve a punch in a beautiful punch bowl when you’re having a party, and it saves you from making individual cocktails.

A spritz is another light cocktail that is just right for a summer brunch or lunch. Being a grapefruit lover, I make a spritz with grapefruit juice, whose crisp flavor complements the slightly sweet flavor of vermouth and gets fizz from grapefruit seltzer. A garnish of pink grapefruit slices and a sprig of rosemary adds a pretty touch and a lovely herbal aroma.

We Italians also have our signature fruity cocktails, and the sgroppino is a summer staple. It’s a slushy, dessert-like drink created in Venice and typically made with Prosecco, vodka, and lemon sorbet. I sometimes substitute limoncello for the vodka, or grappa when I’m in Friuli. But when peaches are in season, I can’t resist making these lush fruits the star of my sgroppino, mixing peach sorbet and peach vodka with a Prosecco rosé and garnishing it with fresh fruit slices and aromatic basil. Pink and pretty, this sgroppino tastes of summer at its sweetest.