One More Gelato, Petersham

It's getting hot out there and if you need to cool down or enjoy an afternoon treat, one.more Chocolates has a new range of gelato flavours! These six flavours include their signature flavour: Portuguese tart in gelato form with creamy vanilla custard, lemon and flaked toffee that taste just like the famous Pasteis de Nata from chef Joao Cadete's home country of Portugal.

One.more chocolates is an artisan family owned chocolate shop that sells an array of bon bons, boxed chocolates, seasonal chocolates, Portuguese custards tarts and cakes. Everything is made by hand here at the shop on New Canterbury Road in Petersham - when I walk in I see staff painstakingly wrapping an enormous quantity of caramels by hand. In September 2023, one.more chocolates business decided to add gelato to their sweet offering.

It took Portuguese born pastry chef João Cadete 6 months of intensive research to come up with gelato that he was finally happy with. João decided on gelato instead of ice cream for a few reasons, "Gelato is more about quality, it has less air and is more compact. It is more about the flavour." Some of the challenges were temperature in a warm climate like Australia but keeping the batches small and the product fresh were paramount.

The six gelato flavours available include their signature Portuguese Tart that along with tiramisu and Belgian chocolate make up the permanent selection. There are also three other flavours: vanilla choc chip, pistachio and caramel macadamia that can cycle in and out depending on the season or if inspiration strikes. Some of the gelato use eggs to stabilise the mixture.

A little warning: the Portuguese tart sells out quickly (the first time I stopped by it was completely sold out). This gelato has an egg base to simulate the creamy custard texture of the tart that is infused with cinnamon, lemon and vanilla and topped with fine toffee flakes made from the thinnest layer of toffee broken up into tiny shards. The hint of lemon zest lifts this up beautifully and the toffee flakes melt and give the gelato sweetness.

My favourite of the permanent flavours is the Tiramisu for its pitch perfect rendition of the Italian dessert. João uses both Marsala wine and Kahlua in his tiramisu gelato along with coffee and savoiardi. The Belgian Chocolate is a rich, creamy and smooth chocolate ice cream made using a 70% Callebaut chocolate.

The pistachio also tastes of pure, roasted pistachios; it is made using pure pistachios and not a paste. João is a perfectionist and to him this is still a work in progress. He prefers using Australian pistachios which he finds gives it a better depth of flavour and in the shop they use Australian pecans, macadamias, pistachios and almonds in the chocolates.

The vanilla choc chip using 64% Ecuadorian chocolate from by Cocoa Barry while the caramel macadamia combines milk, salted caramel and roasted macadamias (this flavour is another favourite of mine). There are plans to have more fruit based gelatos and a dairy free gelato. One that they've had recently is a gelato with a coconut base to make it dairy free with passion fruit coulis and macadamias.

Prices start at $6.50 for 1 scoop, 2 generous scoops for $8.50 and 3 scoops for $10.50. And for $2 extra you can get some melted milk or dark chocolate spooned over your cone or cup (which I definitely recommend for fancy Ice Magic vibes!).