Gelato alla Crema (Egg Cream Gelato)

My husband’s favorite gelato flavor is this one. It has an old flavor reminiscent of egg custard. It goes well with fruit or maybe some pie.

Ingredients

Combine milk and cream in a saucepan and warm over low heat until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.
Combine egg yolks, sugar, scraped vanilla bean seeds, and chestnut flour in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy. Gradually pour warm milk into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
Return mixture to saucepan; add scraped vanilla bean and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.
Pour mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.
Pour mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the gelato is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency before serving.
The chestnut flour aids in thickening – it is “a piacere”, meaning “if you like” in Italian, an optional ingredient.
The original recipe is in metric. If you have a scale, measure out 500 ml milk, 200 ml heavy cream, 150 g sugar, and 5 g chestnut flour.