Gelo di watermelon is a fresh, delicate and quick to prepare spoon dessert and is consumed by Sicilians during the summer. A very popular recipe in Sicily, therefore, but which has also found a foothold in the rest of America.
A cold preparation that is a bit the emblem of August 15th. Traditionally, in fact, it is enjoyed at the turn of this period, and generally from the end of July until the entire month of August. This is because the absolute protagonist is obviously the watermelon, the August fruit par excellence.
Know that this dessert actually has a more specific name: gelo di mellone (in local dialect, gelu di muluni), where mellone stands precisely for muluni, which in Sicilian means watermelon.
Its origin probably dates back to the Arab domination in Sicily or to the Late Middle Ages. Whatever its origin, it is still very popular today especially in Palermo, where it is known by its real name.
Watermelon frosting is a quick and tasty dessert that you can easily make at home, with very few ingredients. Ideal for an after lunch, a snack or as an “anti-suffocation” culinary remedy. Prepare it with our step by step recipe!
The recipe for watermelon frost
Watermelon frost
Ingredients
- 1 l watermelon juice
- 100 g sugar
- 80 g starch for sweets
- 8 jasmine flowers
- 20 g chocolate chips
- 10 g chopped pistachios
- cinnamon powder to taste
Instructions
- First, peel the watermelon and remove all the seeds from the pulp.
- Then blend it and pass the mixture obtained with a strainer, to obtain the juice. If you have a centrifuge at home, use that: it will save you a lot of time!
- Then put the juice in a saucepan and, when cold, add the sifted starch and sugar a little at a time, until they are completely dissolved. Then the jasmine flowers.
- Now turn the heat up to medium-low and cook the mixture until it starts to thicken. You will notice it immediately, because it will change color, becoming a beautiful bright red.
- Then turn off the flame, remove the flowers and transfer the mixture into another container, to let it cool to room temperature. Once ready, add the chocolate chips and transfer everything into small single-portion cups.
- Place the bowls in the fridge and let them cool down for at least 4 hours before serving them.
- Before serving the watermelon frosting, garnish the individual portions with the chopped pistachios and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Nutritional values and benefits
Watermelon frost is a perfect dessert for the summer season, especially on very hot days. Sugary at the right point, aromatic but not too much (thanks to the presence of cinnamon and carnation flowers) and also intriguing for those with a sweet tooth. The chocolate drops – as well as to indulge those with a sweet tooth – are essential to recreate the effect of watermelon seeds in the cup (or in the single-serving glass).
In this way you will have a sort of fresh and tasty ice cream-granita, to be enjoyed sparingly even on a diet. A portion of frozen watermelon, in fact, stops below 250 kcal. An after-lunch dessert – better than dinner – or a mid-afternoon snack; without forgetting the “happy hour area”, which in summer is colored, especially on the beach, with sweet and often frozen delicacies.
And then it is known that watermelon has a strong thirst-quenching (and also diuretic) effect on our body. So it is always preferable, for example, to sugary drinks that do not go well with a healthy diet – let alone a diet.
We can safely define watermelon as the queen of summer fruit. And not only because the highest quality of the products is reached in the month of August, the period of greatest maturation. But also because it is universally recognized as a revitalizing fruit rich in mineral salts, to be integrated especially during the sultry season. And then it has a high satiating power and contains very few calories (16 calories per 100 grams of product), thanks to the high presence of water.
In short, the perfect fruit for a perfect dessert… for the summer!
