Here at Fiorello’s we get asked all the time about various products and flavors, original to the Fio’s brand. One of those is our famous Torta Gelati, which has a deeply rooted history at our family business. Here’s a little background on how (and why) we started making these delicious Italian ice cream cakes.
Some Background on Torta Gelati
The year was 1984, two years after Fiorello’s opening. The Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco was hosting the American Medical Association’s annual convention, and they hired me to serve 5,000 ice cream sundaes to their guests.
Yes, that’s right…FIVE THOUSAND SUNDAES!
Unbeknownst to most, serving ice cream at events attended by hundreds, or in this case, thousands of people, is a tremendous task.
Not only is it labor-intensive, but maintaining an ideal “scoop-able” temperature for the gelato is quite a challenge. Too cold, and the gelato is rock solid and impossible to scoop. Too soft, and…well, nobody ever asked for melted ice cream.
Providing a climate-controlled environment for that much gelato is not so easy, and in time-sensitive events (think weddings) it needs to be scoop-able at precisely the right moment.
As it turns out, four hours wasn’t enough time, and the gelato was still hard as a brick.
As I powered through the arduous task of muscling up scoop after scoop of rock-solid gelato, I thought to myself:
“How can I expect caterers to purchase our gelato for their menus and events, when I can barely pull off the task of efficiently serving a large crowd myself?!”
Other dessert chefs have often resorted to ice cream cakes, which more or less give the makings of an ice cream sundae in cake form.
The cake base insulates the ice cream from the room-temperature plate, thus extending the length of time the ice cream is at an ideal temperature. However, my problem with typical ice cream cakes is that they are seldom memorable; the ingredients are often plain, and the ice cream is airy and tasteless.
It was only natural for me to try and improve this standard model and come up with our own version. Hence, the birth of “Tri-it’s” (Gelato Tortes).
Our "Aha" Moment
Tri-it’s was our first iteration of a Torta Gelati — a high-end ice cream cake, with some distinctions from the usual old thing.
Notably, we use a New York Style Cream Cheese Cheesecake base. While most other ice cream cakes use crushed cookies or regular cake, we found that the cheesecake further insulates our gelato more effectively than regular cake, thus maintaining the desired temperature of the ice cream significantly longer.
Most importantly, we use Fiorello’s Gelato, the most dense and intense Italian ice cream ever. Furthermore, our toppings are designed to pair perfectly with the cheesecake base and the particular flavor of gelato. Others typically use regular whipped cream topped with generic sprinkles or other candy type bits and pieces. There’s simply no comparison between our products, and the rest!
Why the Torta gelati?
The biggest benefits of a Torta Gelato is its servability. Nice, sunny day? Big crowd at your summer barbecue? Or family here for dinner? No problem.
With our Torta Gelati, you’ll have none of the typical issues of scooping ice cream under the sun. The Torta Gelato doesn’t require tempering, since the cheesecake base insulates the gelato and keeps it at the desired temperature on a plate for a long period of time. It’s the perfect solution for serving large quantities of dessert products indoors or outdoors.
And that, folks, is the story of Fiorello’s Artisan Gelato Torta Gelati. We hope you found a little bit of Fio’s history entertaining, and interesting.
Over the years, I’ve been asked by many vendors to make a smaller, retail packaged Torta Gelati for the consumer market. Please, let us know if this is something you’d want to pick up in your local store. Perhaps it’s time we make it happen, let us know in comments!
