Gelato. Florence, Italy

September 2021

If there’s one requirement that has to be fulfilled during any trip to Italy, it’s visiting at least one gelateria, and I firmly believe I found the best one in all of Italy.  And not just because I’d hiked 166km across the Apennine mountains to get there!

As soon as we stepped off the Via Degli Dei in to the outer reaches of Florence, we had one mission, and one mission only.  Gelato.  Google Maps reliably informed us that there was a gelateria just a couple of minutes walk away.  Unassumingly tucked on a residential street, away from the throngs of tourists and seemingly frequented mainly by locals, it was love at first sight!

With all of the Italian classics – Stracciatella, Hazelnut, as well as juicy fruit sorbets and rich chocolatey offerings of various darkness, it was a tough choice.  Rarely do I have two scoops but this felt like a two scoop occasion, plus it meant I could go for the winning combination of pistachio and dark chocolate.  I always much prefer the thought of ice cream over sorbet, but often when I have it, I’m left disappointed as the flavour doesn’t hold past the first few licks before it just tastes generically sweet and leaves me feeling a bit sick.  Not this gelato! With a perfectly smooth and creamy texture, both held their rich flavours right until the last lick, but were so light I wasn’t left feeling overly full (and was almost tempted to go back for a second!).

Next time I find myself in Florence, my first stop will be here, and I won’t give a second thought to hiking 50 minutes across the city from the train station to get there!

Find Il Caproccio on Via delle Centro Stelle, north east of the city centre.  It’s more than worth the trek.