The summer has faded fast and the nights are getting cold. Provincetown has really quieted down so I have cut back from 24 to 20 flavors in the dipping cabinet to make sure everything is really fresh. I’ve also introduced new fall flavors and new hot drink items to the menu. People don’t seem to want the fruity flavors as much when it is cold, so now there are much fuller flavors in the case. Fabbri’s New York Style Cheesecake made a great hit. The selection of varigates is amazing. Amarenna Cherry, Blueberry, Raspberry Top Sauce, My personal favorite is the new Coco and Hazlenut. I think it is better than Nutella, I varigate lots of flavors with it and customers LOVE IT! It is also one of our sundae toppings and it gets ordered more than hot fudge.

Other fall flavors make use of the Vanilla Delipaste. Add fresh ground cinnamon to the base before freezing to make a great ‘Cinnamon Vanilla.’  ‘Kahlua Vanilla’ is always popular. I know all bases are different, but here is my recipe

3L base   290g Fabbri Vanilla Delipaste 1cup Kahlua

Coffee flavors are popular and easy to come up with. I use the Moka paste, always 100g/L. Coffee can be varigated with chocolate sauces, stracciatella, chocolate covered espresso beans, even dulce de leche to make a ‘Cafe de Leche.’ The Caramel paste and Moka paste make a wonderful ‘Caramel Coffee’. The recipe for Caramel Coffee is  3L base  230g Fabbri Caramel  Delipaste & 185g Fabbri Moka Delipaste. Traditional nut flavors like pistacchio and hazlenut are always popular but the fall weather is when you can really be creative with the nutties. I tried for a while to sell plain nut flavors like marron glace (chestnut) and mandorla tostada (toasted almond). They didn’t move too much. Even though the taste was excellent and it was a unique flavor, it wasnt enough to get people intrested. I wondered what I could do to help them out and then…the most brilliant idea ever! What does everyone love? NUTELLA. ™  I swirled it in and low and behold  chestnut with nutella swirl was born. Works just as well with toasted almond or any other nut flavor. People love swirls and the exoticness of the flavor makes them want to taste it.  Once they taste it…you know they are going to want it! Customers are always enthralled by our chocolate selection. I Dream of Gelato uses Fabbri coco powder that comes in convenient 1kilo bags. I have tried many brands of coco powders and this makes the best and richest tasting plain chocolate flavor. No funny aftertaste or texture. It also blends wonderfully with anything you may be adding to it to create other flavors..such as, fruity flavored Delipastes, mint delipaste or any varigate you can think of. I also make our signature hot chocolate with this coco, but more about that later. I usually make chocolate in big batches and that way it is easy to make many flavors all at once.  As the gelato is extracting,  add peanut butter, fudge sauce, oreos, chocolate chips, vanilla sauce, nuts, any of the Top Sauces…the possibilities are endless.As I am adding the coco powder to the base, I taste it to make sure it tastes like the best chocolate milk I have ever drank.  It should look dark and rich but you should still taste it to make sure, and add more coco powder if necessary. When it tastes perfect as a liquid, it will taste great frozen. Plain chocolate should still be a dream flavor and Fabbri coco powder does the job. In the summer I make a lot of chocolate fruit combos using the fruit Delipastes but this time of year I make chocolate flavors like ‘Irish Mocha Mint’ made with mint Delipaste and Irish Creme Mixycafe. ‘Chocolate Coconut’ is made with Coconut Mixybar. Add one cup Mixybar to 3L base/coco. ‘Chocolate Ameretto’ is another simple Mixycafe flavor. I know you are probably wondering why I use the Mixycafe instead of the Delipaste. The Mixycafe gives the gelato a different texture. Richer and smoother. Because the Mixy is more sugary than the Delipaste, it gives it a more creamier feel. Like I have said before, expirement. When making a flavor, and tasting it, make sure you can taste all the flavors strong in its liquid form or you will never taste it when it is frozen. Now that the evening temperatures are dipping low, hot chocolate is what’s on people’s mind. They always come in and ask what the Italian Hot chocolate is. I point to our wonderful  machine and say “It is the thickest and richest hot chocolate ever. It is like drinking a melted chcoclate bar. We make that from scratch as well. We serve it two ways. Straight up in a little espresso glass or in a bigger cup with steamed milk added to thin it out a bit.”

Once they taste it, they say how much they love it! The Fabbri Coco Powder is so versatile, it makes the most fabulous Italian style hot chocolate. I’m talking the thick rich cocoa that is becoming all the rage. Right now there are a lot of manufactureres of instant powdered hot chocolate. Add milk and heat. I know I keep saying this but I have tasted lots of them. At the gelato expo in Italy there is a section of hot chocolate displays and of course you can sample, and of course I did. I thought my hot chocolate was better than any of them. Seriously. Making hot chocolate is not difficult or time consuming.  You can customize it to make it as thick or chocolatey as you like. We added some Mixycafe to the hot coco this season to create some unique tastes. It was almost like making a hot chocolate latte with a flavor shot. Fill  a cup with a couple of inches of coco, add a flavor shot then stir together. Pour in steamed milk and stir the entire time. Ameretto and Amerena Cherry were the two most popular flavors. Speaking of flavor shots, this season we added the Sugarfree Raspberry  and Sugarfree Vanilla Mixycafe. Once we had new signage made that featured these flavors, we had a lot of requests for them. I think there is a big sugarfree market out there. People seemed very happy with their coffees saying there “were no funny aftertastes.” These flavors can also be added to sparkling water to make Italian Sodas.Another new item this year was the hot chocolate affogato. Instead of drowning the gelato in espresso….drown it in your rich and thick homemade hot coco.  If you don’t sell all your coco, don’t worry. Drain it out into cups and put into the fridge. It will stay for a while there. Now you can use it to make up a flavor with a chocolate swirl. This season I have continued to learn and grow and that made this the easiest season so far. Knowledge of the product and an improved gelato production schedule made for an easier work environment mentally and physically. I really enjoyed working with all the new Fabbri flavors this year and am looking forward to next years treats. I am not sure if I will be attending next years Italian gelato expo, but i sure hope so! I Dream of Gelato will be closing for the year on October 19th. I want to thank everyone who came to our store just once or every single day.  It made me feel great to receive all your compliments.  Have a wonderful winter and we will see you in the spring.

Michelle Jaffe

http://www.idreamofgelato.com

Tags: Cape Cod, I dream of Gelato, Provincetown