When we recorded the podcast with Andrea Zingrillo (Wally Milano), one of the ice creams that struck me the most in the ice cream shop was his licorice. Intense, deep, uncompromising. One of those that you either love or hate, but you can’t ignore. At one point I asked him outright: I want this one in the Open Lab.
Out of that request came not one recipe, but two: two interpretations that start from the same raw material and approach, but take different directions. In this first article we start with the more “stable” and established version. The second one, more complex and still evolving, will come soon to the Gelato Project Open Lab.
Licorice according to Wally
For Andrea, licorice is not a side flavor. It is the center of the flavor. The goal was not to achieve a “balanced for everyone” ice cream, but intense and persistent, with a consistent texture, consistent with her style.
So the first choice was structural: reduce the classic lactic part, abound with cream to manage fat, and replace part of the milk with water. In this way the licorice remains the protagonist, without being diluted by the lactic profile.
On balance, too, the direction is clear: sugars used to support structure and tightness, not to seek sweetness; an intentionally generous amount of licorice; fiber and stabilizers inserted to give body and stability, not to correct flaws.
The result is a full, round ice cream that lingers in the mouth for a long time. A taste that seeks not consensus, but identity.
Ingredients – Licorice ice cream (1 kg mixture)
- 290 g whole milk (3.5 percent fat)
- 244 g of water
- 200 g of cream (35% fat)
- 130 g sucrose sugar
- 50 g of skim milk powder (1% fat)
- 40 g dextrose monohydrate
- 30 g licorice powder
- 10 g dehydrated glucose syrup 38 DE
- 6 g of Core_Inside THE ONE (or 4 g of locust bean seed flour)
Proceedings
Combine milk, water and cream and start heating.
Combine the powders (sucrose, dextrose, milk powder, neutral, licorice) in a container and at about 45 °C incorporate them to in the liquid part while stirring carefully.
Pasteurize at 65 °C and blend with immersion blender to obtain a smooth and homogeneous texture.
Chill to +4°C, let ripen 8-12 hours and freeze.
Version 2 – Salty licorice & umami…
This is the first face of Andrea’s licorice: direct, intense, uncompromising. A solid recipe that says exactly what it needs to say.
But that’s not all… the second version pushes the taste further: salty licorice, inspired by Finnish salmiakki. Less sweet, more savory, with umami notes given by mirin and kombu seaweed, and still open research on the finish, where Andrea is working on a fresh, pungent note with black lime.
A recipe that is still evolving, telling the process even before the result.
If you want to follow its development and don’t miss the second part, join the Gelato Project WhatsApp community: that’s where these conversations are born, even before they end up on the blog!
Your recipe in the Open Lab
The Gelato Project Open Lab is also this: a space where professionals and enthusiasts can share a recipe that truly represents them. We are not looking for “weird at all costs” flavors, but for proven preparations with a story behind them, precise choices, and a clear idea of where they want to go.
If you have a recipe that works, that tells something about you or your way of making ice cream, write to me via the contact page indicating “Open Lab” as the reason for contact. We always start with an idea, a picture, two lines of context. Then, if it makes sense, we develop it together and turn it into a real article, inside the Gelato Project path.
This is how the best contributions are born: from a conversation.
Il suo approccio unisce studio, ricerca e profonda consapevolezza tecnica: ogni gusto nasce da un’idea precisa, spesso legata a ricordi o suggestioni culturali, ma sempre sviluppata con metodo. Wally si distingue per la produzione interamente artigianale, senza scorciatoie industriali, dalla materia prima al prodotto finito. Anche la scelta di non replicare il format in più punti vendita riflette questa filosofia: qualità, presenza e cura prima di tutto.
- Andrea Zingrillo’s salmiakki ice cream - 26 February 2026
- Licorice ice cream, an “atomic bomb” by Andrea Zingrillo - 11 February 2026
