Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, derived from the Latin word, meaning frozen. It is an all-inclusive term that loosely translates to ice cream but also includes anything from sorbet a-nd yogurt to custards.

Compared to American-style ice cream (that is one made with egg yolks, as is basically the new sta-ndard in home recipes a-nd commercial products), gelato has less fat in the base a-nd less air churned into it during the freezing process.

Gelato, by comparison, uses more milk than cream, so it does not have nearly as much fat. Additionally, it usually-but not always-uses fewer (to the point of none) egg yolks, another source of fat in custard-based ice creams.It is churned at a much slower speed, which introduces less air into the base-think whipping cream by ha-nd instead of with asta-nd mixer. That is why it tastes more dense than ice cream.

You can make both gelato a-nd ice cream in your ice cream machine, remember, air is only one of the differences between them.