1 Night, 12 Kitchens wrap-up

Oh man, we love doing this gig. 1 Night, 12 Kitchens is a fundraiser to support scholarships for the Midwest Culinary Institute. It's incredible to be in the company of Cincinnati's best chefs in the incredible kitchens if the MCI. The energy is so positive and as you can imagine, the food is unbelievably delicious. Madisono's offered bite-sized s'mores with our giandouja (hazelnut and chocolate) gelato, Grateful Grahams graham crackers and made-from-scratch marshmallow perfectly toasted golden brown with a kitchen torch.

This year, we took let our MCI student assistant Valerie (pictured above) take charge of our table and went around to taste some of the incredible food creations. I was only disappointed that my stomach couldn't hold anything more in it by the end of the night. We'll see you there next year!

Strawberry Lemonade sorbet

That's Noah making our seasonal flavor Strawberry Lemonade in the shop yesterday. Of course real strawberries and lots of lemon zest are on the ingredient list to make for that beautifully sweet tart flavor.

We hear that it tastes especially good with some white rum or perhaps in that daiquiri you are now planning on making for your Friday happy hour. We don't blame you if you want to start that party early now that you know what to serve. It's currently available at Kramer's Market, College Hill Coffee, Pipkins, Madison's at Findlay Market, Keegan's Seafood and Sugar Plum. If you don't see it in your usual Madisono's locations, don't hesitate to ask for it. Now let's get this party started!

Madisono's Gelato at the zoo tonight!

The wildly popular "Wild about Wine" event at the zoo tonight is sold out! We're excited to share our gelato and sorbet with everyone who was able to grab some tickets. If you've not experienced these events at the zoo, you may want to check them out. Each one is well planned, full of delicious food and drinks, and seriously, who doesn't love the zoo?

Tonight we'll be offering scoops of our delicious gelato and sorbet, flavors to be determined when we get through the boatload of orders we were slammed with on Monday. Whew!

Make sure you stop by and say hello if you're there tonight.

Gelato Vs. Ice Cream

Many people ask what the difference between gelato and ice cream is, so we thought we'd share this little bit of information to shed some light on the subject we care so deeply about

It should be said that for as much as we LOVE gelato, we also enjoy some ice cream too. It's all good! This nice comparison was gathered from the The World of Ice Cream website.

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GELATO = less fat + no air added = rich cremier taste

Premium ice creams are made with fresh cream (not condensed or powdered milk), real eggs, and natural flavorings. Quality ingredients aside, lesser ice creams also have more air whipped in. As much as half the carton may be air, in fact. More air--or "overrun"--means softer ice cream that scoops more easily and melts more quickly. Premium ice creams have very little air added; gelato has no air added at all. (There’s a minimal amount of air that's incorporated naturally because of the churning process.)

Gelato and some premium ice creams are so dense that they require a slightly higher serving temperature, a perfect point where your scoop is firm but not hard and not so soft that it melts immediately. Gelato recipes usually include more egg yolks, more milk and less cream. It actually has less fat than regular ice cream, but gelato's low overrun makes for an extremely dense, rich and creamy treat.

Beautiful gelato photo from Almare Gelato.

Dietary restrictions and allergies? Try sorbet!

There is so much to worry about these days when entertaining guests. We have a friend who is lactose intolerant, another who developed Celiac's disease and can't have gluten, and yet another friend who is allergic to eggs, another who has a nut allergy. It might seem daunting to come up with a dessert to please all of your special food needs, but it's not.

Try some Madisono's sorbet and everyone will be safe and their taste buds happy. Sorbets are all about fruit. With no milk, cream or eggs, they depend only on sugar, lemon juice and fresh fruit for flavor. Elegantly simple and refreshingly tart, sorbets were the rage during Victorian years, when they were served as palate cleansers between rich, heavy courses. The Italian sorbetto, is more intense in flavor and generally has more fruit and less water, resulting in a softer, less icy texture.

Madisono's grapefruit sorbet is lively and refreshing, the red raspberry sorbet has intense red color that looks a stunning in a bowl as it tastes, and the lemon basil sorbet continues to be one of our best sellers for it's unique fresh citrus flavor. Serve any of these with some fresh fruit and you have a healthy and delicious dessert to delight all your guests!