After his mouthwatering Apple Pie for the Gelato Project’s Author Recipes, Pierpaolo Portogallo is back, with a completely different flavor, this time for the Gelato Project Open Lab!
No comfort food, but we go for something more subtle, less immediate, but precisely for that reason interesting, and the name is already a clue: “Kiwi me softly!”
Kiwi and prickly pear shovel
Two fruits that, on paper, do not seem to have much in common: one is acidic, direct, almost aggressive; the other is soft, watery, rounder but often difficult to handle in the gelateria. Yet together they strike a balance. The kiwi brings acidity, verticality, tension. The prickly pear shovel works more in the background, smoothing the corners, giving roundness and a silkier texture.
The idea came from a request that came to Sherbeth Festival through master Arnaldo Conforti: to bring back to ice cream an ingredient strongly linked to Sicilian tradition, the prickly pear shovel.
An ingredient that in the kitchen is most often encountered in savory preparations and in ice cream making brings with it some critical issues, mainly related to its gelling properties and its very vegetal flavor profile, with hints of raw spinach, cucumber, and the green part of the watermelon.
To make it more accessible and interesting, the choice fell on kiwi, able with its acidity to lighten and give tension to the taste. Completing the profile is tangerine zest, which brings an elegant and recognizable citrus note, creating a bridge to Italian pastry.
Ingredients (for 1 kg of ice cream)
- 162 g sucrose
- 8 g dextrose
- 28 g glucose 38 DE
- 10 g of inulin
- 1 g carob flour
- 1.5 g guar gum
- 0.5 g xanthan gum
- 460 g of kiwi fruit
- 50 g of prickly pear shovel extract
- 315 g of water
- 1.3 g of tangerine peel
Proceedings
Thoroughly peel the prickly pear shovel, removing the outer peel completely (use protective gloves). Extract the juice with an extractor, add tangerine juice and keep aside.
Weigh and mix the dry ingredients. Add water and whisk until smooth and pasteurize at 82 °C.
Cool the base to about 25 °C. Combine the peeled kiwi, tangerine peel and shovel extract.
Mantecare until about -8 °C
Conclusion
“Kiwi me softly!” is an ice cream that focuses not on immediate impact, but on balance. It starts fresh, almost light, then widens and finds its own harmony between acidity, vegetable component and citrus note.
It is one of those flavors that don’t try to convince you at the first spoonful, but become interesting as you go along.
And perhaps that is the most beautiful point: when two distant ingredients find a common language, without forcing.
Do you also want to post in the Gelato Project Open Lab?
The Gelato Project Open Lab is a new corner of the Gelato Project dedicated to fresh ideas from the community. If you’re an ice cream maker, a balance geek, or just someone who has created a flavor you’re proud of, you can contribute too.
Write and tell me about your recipe-I will be happy to evaluate it and, if suitable for the column, publish it in our open space dedicated to ice cream creativity!
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Did you know that we have an interactive community on WhatsApp? It is structured with a central channel and thematic channels to exchange on dedicated topics such as precisely ice cream!
Small note: whatsapp does not give access to history, so you start seeing messages from the moment you join, which is why when you enter it all seems empty.
Nel suo lavoro convivono precisione e libertà: pochi ingredienti selezionati, una filiera corta e un approccio contemporaneo che usa la tecnologia come strumento, non come scorciatoia. Ogni gusto diventa così un equilibrio tra tecnica ed emozione, pensato per essere riconoscibile e raccontare qualcosa, anche senza bisogno di parole.
- Kiwi and prickly pear shovel ice cream - 21 April 2026
