Wow! The summer is here and it is hot! The rush of the season is in full force and folks are looking to cool off. I Dream of Gelato has a three bay Carpigani slushy machine and we keep it full all summer. Bay one is full of Fabbri’s Granitina neutral granitia (slush) mix. Easy to use, add one box to 10 liters of water and pour into the machine.  Fabbri makes so many flavors for the slushies it is amazing. The line of flavorings is called Mixybar. We carry Mango, Strawberry, Coconut, Lemon, Lime, Pineapple, Watermelon and Mint. There are many more flavors than that and when they are displayed on a shelf, in front of a mirror in a line, they look great! Customers can mix flavors to create drinks like StrawberryWatermelon, LemonLime and MangoCoconut. The granitina is also great for making an Espresso Slush.  Just pour a double shot of espresso over a 16 ounce granita and stir. It is just the right sweetness and icey consistancy.

At the end of the night, when the shop is closed, that slush is great for making special blender drinks!

Bay two has a frozen lemon slush. We use the Lemon L powder and although it is not fresh squeezed, the flavor is tremendous. The Arancia L can also be substituted to make an orange slush.

The recipe for the Lemon Slush is

2 gallon water

4 3/4 pound sugar

11 oz Lemon L

grated lemon rind

tsp. melted Fabbrisoff

Since we started receiving lots of requests for frozen yogurt, we decided to try the new Frozen Yogurt in bay 3. As the yogurt is dispensed, it can be varigated with fresh fruits or other Topp fruit sauces. Raspberry, cherry and blueberry are the most popular. Throw a few pieces of fresh strawberrys on top to make a parfait and you are good to go.

This summer we introduced two new Citrus Chillers. On hot days they are really light and very refreshing. The first Chiller is made with Lemon (L) sorbet, pink grapefruit sorbet (Simple’) and fresh pineapple.  The second Chiller is Lemon (L) sorbet made with fresh pineapple and banana. We used to make them special for a customer but then decided they were so good, they should be on the menu.

This is one of the reasons we like customers to make their own creations. It gives us the opportunity to try new things we would of never thought of.

Some of our new summer flavors were expansions of flavors we already had. Peach Delipaste is great but when varigated with a raspberry sauce, and layered with crushed graham cracker, now you have a great Peach Melba.  Peach Mango (Delipastes) mix well together for another new summer flavor.

Banana delipaste can be dressed up with ameretto Topp sauce for a wonderful Banana Ameretto. It can also be made into Banana Walnut Chip with stracciatella and walnuts.  Banana and Blueberry (Delipastes) also mix well.

As you can see, the summer presents lots of opportunity for creativity.  Having a specials menu so you can rotate all your ideas makes it easier than having everything on the menu  at once, then having to have all your items in stock. Don’t be afraid to try something new…!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you are interested in Fabbri products you can contact Donna Domiano at DDomiano@fabbrinorthamerica.com. I will have another blog in October about warmer things you can be making in your shop.

Take Care and Stay Cool,

Michelle Jaffe