Cinnamon gelo, Grandma’s recipe: the Sicilian cinnamon pudding that you can make with cinnamon sticks or with ground cinnamon, perfect in every season and made without gelatin but with cornstarch.
Just like Lemon gelo, Orange gelo, Watermelon gelo, and even Sicilian biancomangiare and almond milk biancomangiare (homemade Sicilian almond milk), cinnamon gelo is one of the well-known desserts from Sicilian cuisine and grandma’s recipes: an elegant and refined spoon dessert that lets you serve an economical and indulgent dessert, but above all quick to make.
To prepare cinnamon gelo you only need water, cinnamon, sugar and a little cornstarch, so it’s ideal for those who are gluten intolerant. Despite the extreme ease and simplicity of the ingredients, cinnamon gelo is very seductive and always wins everyone’s heart!
If you, like me, are madly in love with this spice and the scent of cinnamon takes your mind away, I recommend making cinnamon gelo, a fragrant and evocative dessert that will captivate you!
But now, let’s go to the recipe and find out how to make Sicilian cinnamon gelo. Before we get to the stove, remember that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Preparation time: 18 Minutes
- Portions: 10 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups Water
- 5 sticks Cinnamon sticks (about)
- 1 1/8 cups Sugar
- 3/4 cup Cornstarch (Maizena)
Preparation
For this recipe I recommend using cinnamon sticks, which are much more fragrant than ground cinnamon. If you only have ground cinnamon, use it, but strain the liquid through cheesecloth folded several times to obtain a clear liquid.
Put the cinnamon, roughly broken, into a container or directly into the pot and let it macerate in 1 L (4 1/4 cups) of water for about 8 hours so it rehydrates. After that time, place the liquid on the stove and bring it to a boil; cook for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat, cover and let it infuse for about 6 hours or a little longer.
If you boiled everything the evening before, as I would suggest, in the morning you’ll already have the base for your gelo.
Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth to obtain a clear liquid.
Gather all the dry ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, dissolve them with a little of the strained liquid and, once you have a lump-free mixture, add the remaining liquid and stir.
Place over the stove and, stirring constantly, wait for the mixture to come to a boil and begin to thicken, then turn off the heat.
Wet the container(s) you have chosen to use as molds with a little water—I’ve used ice cream cups—pour in the mixture quickly to prevent it from setting and becoming hard to handle, but be careful not to burn yourself.
Let the mixture cool until it reaches room temperature, then move it to the refrigerator to chill; this will take about 3 hours, so be patient.
Just before serving, unmold your desserts gently: they will come out easily. Sprinkle them with chopped pistachio or pistachio powder and bring to the table.
Cinnamon gelo is ready—now all that’s left is to enjoy it…
To keep cinnamon gelo for up to two days, do not unmold it: cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the coldest part of your refrigerator until ready to serve.
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