According to the traditional recipe, the various ingredients of Italian artisanal ice cream must be fresh, that is without preservatives. The components vary depending on the product intended – for sorbets only water and fruit are used – and the flavor to be produced.
Among the main ingredients of ice cream is milk. Whole or skimmed, but always fresh, nin artisanal preparations, in the industrial process it is powdered, condensed or replaced by caseinates and whey, and supplemented with refined and hydrogenated vegetable fats (instead of cream). The same applies to the egg, which in industrial preparations is introduced in the form of pasteurized or dehydrated mixtures, corrected with an emulsifier. The last and omnipresent element is sugar, usually sucrose.
Completing the list, specific ingredients for the different ice cream flavors. Whole fruits in artisanal production, instead of semi-finished products with additives for long preservation, and chopped foods (chocolate for example), otherwise supplied as semi-finished. The resulting mixture is subjected to pasteurization, homogenization and churning. It is then placed in the cold storage to attain the consistency suitable for consumption.
