Creamy Cassata Gelato

Recently when I was in downtown Berkeley, I visited one of my favorite gelato shops, Gelato Milano, which is conveniently a few steps away from the downtown Berkeley BART station. The gelato there has such a buttery consistency that it's a real guilty pleasure. I typically eat the fruit flavors, but this time I tried some Italian treats. Above is a Cassata-inspired gelato topped off with the classic Tiramisu flavor. The tiramisu flavor was great; it really was just like eating the cream in a tiramisu dessert. The cassata was a new flavor for me. Cassata is a traditional Sicilian cake that has bits of fruits, often orange flavor. So this gelato flavor had a definite orange flavor, which I like, and a similar creamy texture like the tiramisu. These Italian dessert-inspired flavors seemed to have a bit more air in the gelato than the normal dense buttery consistency. So it was like eating whipped cream frosting. Still, it was an interesting new flavor to try. Instead of making a whole cassata cake, you can just buy a scoop! ;-)

Gelato Milano, 2170 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. PH: 510.649.1888. Web site.