The simplest way to run a gelato program in a café, bakery or restaurant is to build every flavor from one neutral gelato base and a concentrated flavor paste, such as Fabbri Delipaste, dosed by weight into the mix before churning. One base, a shelf of pastes and a ripple like Fabbri Stracciatella give you a full case of consistent flavors without developing a separate recipe for each. Everything you need for the season is gathered in our August ice cream and preserving collection.
This guide is written for operators who want gelato on the menu this summer without hiring a gelato maker. It covers what a base does, how much paste to use, a sample opening flavor lineup, and the equipment and temperature points that matter most.
Gelato and ice cream share ingredients but land in different places. In the United States, a product sold as ice cream must contain at least 10 percent milkfat and weigh at least 4.5 pounds per gallon under the federal standard of identity. Artisan gelato typically runs lower in butterfat, commonly cited in the 6 to 9 percent range, and it is churned with less air, so it eats denser and carries flavor more directly.
Gelato is also served warmer than hard ice cream. Italian practice puts display temperature around -11 to -14°C (roughly 7 to 12°F), which keeps it scoopable and lets aroma come through. That serving difference matters for your freezer choice later in this guide.
| Point | Artisan gelato | U.S. ice cream |
|---|---|---|
| Butterfat | Commonly 6 to 9% | At least 10% milkfat (federal standard) |
| Air (overrun) | Roughly 20 to 35% | Higher; limited by the 4.5 lb/gallon minimum weight |
| Serving temperature | About -11 to -14°C (7 to 12°F) | Colder, typically hard-frozen |
| Texture | Dense, elastic, intense flavor | Lighter, richer mouthfeel |
A gelato base is a pre-balanced mix of sugars, milk solids and stabilizers that you combine with milk (or water, for fruit sorbets) to reach a mix that freezes smooth. Balancing a gelato mix from scratch means managing sugars, solids and fat for every flavor, and each new flavor can shift the balance. A base does that work once.
Flavor pastes are the second half. Pastes like Fabbri Delipaste are concentrated and designed to be added by weight to a finished mix. That approach has real advantages for a small team:
Always start with the dosage printed on the specific paste. As a reference point, Fabbri lists 70 to 100 grams of Delipaste Peach per liter of prepared gelato mix, and other suppliers of professional pastes recommend a similar 50 to 100 grams per liter depending on the flavor and how bold you want it.
A practical way to dial it in:
Weigh everything. Volume measures drift with viscosity, and flavor pastes are thick enough that a spoonful is never the same twice.
A six-pan case is a manageable start for most cafés. Here is one way to build it from a single white base, with each flavor drawing on a different part of the season:
Finish pans with a visible garnish that tells the customer what is inside: a peach slice, a drizzle of stracciatella, whole hazelnuts. Our Fabbri Delipaste collection lists every paste flavor we stock.
Gelato quality comes down to a handful of temperatures. These are the numbers Italian gelato process guides use as targets:
If you do not have a blast freezer, make smaller batches more often and move them straight to the coldest part of your freezer. Small batches also keep your case fresher, which is the whole point of gelato.
Gelato is traditionally served with a flat spade rather than a round scoop, which works the product and keeps it creamy. Round out the counter with cones, cups and, for take-home or events, popsicle molds for gelato-on-a-stick. Cones and molds are part of the August collection alongside the bases and pastes.
Because the base and pastes are shelf-stable, you can buy for a season rather than a week. A few habits keep margins healthy:
Wholesale accounts can apply through our wholesale registration form. For questions on pastes or quantities, chat or text us, or email support@specialtyfoodsource.com.
You can make small amounts in a countertop ice cream machine, but texture and volume are limited. For a café selling more than a few pans a week, a commercial batch freezer gives consistent overrun and extraction temperature. Either way, the base-and-paste method works the same.
Fabbri notes that Delipaste does not need refrigeration after opening and comes in resealable tins. Keep the lid clean and closed, use a clean spatula each time, and follow the best-by date on the tin.
Yes. Fabbri pastes are designed for gelato, ice cream, sorbets and semifreddo, and Fabbri Stracciatella can be folded into soft serve. Dose by weight into the mix and test, since soft serve is served colder and with more air than gelato.
Stracciatella is fior di latte (sweet cream) gelato with fine chocolate shards throughout. Traditionally, melted chocolate is drizzled into the gelato as it finishes churning so it sets into thin flakes. Fabbri Stracciatella is made for exactly this and needs no tempering.
That depends on your pan size and how much air your machine incorporates. Weigh a filled pan the first time you make each flavor and record it, then use that number for ordering and pricing.
Ready to fill the case? Shop gelato bases, Delipaste flavors, Stracciatella, cones and molds in our August collection, then shop every season to plan what comes next.
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