Difference Between Gelato and Ice Cream (With Table)

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Gelato and Ice-Cream are the all-time favorite desserts, loved by people of every age. Their appearance is quite similar, which can make it a little hard to tell the difference between the two. However, these creamy frozen delicacies are quite different.

Gelato and Ice-Cream, when viewed in the context of the origin, churning process, the texture, or ingredients, can help spot the difference. Both of them have similar base ingredients like sugar and milk. However, the rest of the process differs entirely for these.

While their appearances can be quite deceptive, their texture and flavor can help one distinguish. The temperatures at which both are served varies distinctly.

From the way they both melt into your mouth, to the boldness of flavors applied, you can easily tell the difference once you know the following factors:

Gelato vs Ice Cream

The difference between Gelato and Ice Cream is the amount of air and fats they carry. The gelato contains less fat content than off Ice cream. On the converse, Ice cream has more filled with air than gelato. Galeto is also softer than ice cream. The first one is much delicious and smoother than the second.

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Parameters of comparison	Gelato	Ice Cream
Creaminess	Gelato has a silky-smooth texture with a higher density. It is found to be more elastic, creamier as well as fluid.	Ice Cream, on the other hand, has a softer texture. It’s made up of finer crystal owing to its lighter texture and lesser density.
Ingredients	Gelato contains cream, sugar, milk, and flavors. Milk is added in comparatively more amount. Also, it mostly has no egg yolk content, unlike ice creams.	Ice Cream is made up of the same base ingredients with a higher cream content than gelato. It usually includes egg yolks.
Butterfat	Normally gelato contains about 4 to 9 percent of butterfat.	Butterfat content in ice-cream starts with a minimum of 10 percent. However, it usually ranges between 14-25 percent.
Churning	Gelato is churned at a slower speed. This infuses a lesser amount of air into the mixture to make the consistency denser.	Ice-creams are churned at really high speeds. This doubles its volume with the amount of air that gets whipped into it.
Air	Air content in gelato is about 20-30 percent. This makes it denser and thicker in nature.	Ice-cream is found to contain around 50 percent or more air. This makes it easy to scoop and serve.
Temperature	Gelato is served at temperatures 10 to 15 degrees higher than ice-cream. It allows one to get a richer flavor as the taste buds aren’t numb.	Ice-creams are served at comparatively lower temperatures. It thus melts slowly in the mouth.
Serving Style	Gelato is served with a flat spatula or spade.	Ice-Creams are normally scooped using rounded spoons.

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Gelato is a creamy, frozen dessert known for the boldness of flavors infused into it. It has a soft and smooth texture, which melts into the mouth quickly. Its consistency is pretty dense, and the taste is very rich. It was introduced in 1686 at the Café Le Procope in Paris by the Sicilian Francesco Procopio Cutò.

It is made from the cream, sugar, and milk with little or no egg yolks. Gelato is made with higher milk and sugar content with cream in low proportions. This also results in a low butterfat content of 4-9 percent, which makes it healthier than ice-cream.

It is churned pretty slowly, which allows lesser air to get whipped into the mixture. Gelato’s overrun ranges around 25 to 30 percent during the process. It is served at a warmer temperature for a frozen dessert, this allows the taste buds to be lesser numb, and one can feel the bold flavors.

Ice-cream is one of the most loved frozen desserts of all times and by all ages. It is known for its soft, creamy and light texture. It is said to originate in China when it was served to the King Tang of Shang in 618-97 AD.

Its main ingredients are milk, sugar, cream, and mostly egg yolk too. High proportions of cream are used to make ice-cream, which results in high butterfat content (10-25%) too. According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), ice-cream derives 10% of its calories from this fat.

The process of making an ice-cream requires it to be churned at high-speeds, which allows a high amount of whipped air to get infused into the mixture.

This results in the mixture getting double the volume after the process. It is served ideally at 10°F when the ice is in a well-crystallized form and is served in scoops.

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Both Gelato and Ice-cream are the best-frozen delicacies to exist. Though they may appear similar, they have contrasting differences in the way they are processed. The taste, flavors, and textures mainly tell the difference between the two.

Gelato is rather smooth, denser, and contains intense flavors that melt in the mouth very quickly. However, Ice-cream is simpler, with rich flavors and light texture with a higher fat content than gelato. 

As Ice-cream is served at very cold temperatures, it numbs the taste buds, and the fat coats the tongue, which blocks some flavor out.

However, as gelato is served at a comparatively higher temperature, one gets the rich infusion of flavors that enriches the overall experience.

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1. https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20103340706
2. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d1aa/79d8b2dabf01e532dd480128c0cbf480a077.pdf
3. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01234850/file/13594_2013_Article_146.pdf

Last update on 2021-03-03 / Amazon Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API