How much PAC does Marsala add to gelato?

About 154 per 100 g of sweet Marsala at 18% vol: 133 from the ethanol by the 7.4 x %vol rule and 20 from about 11 g of sugar. A 60 g dose in a 1000 g mix adds about 92 PAC points.

Should Marsala go in before or after pasteurization?

After. Cool the cooked base below 10 C and stir the Marsala in cold. Heating it drives off alcohol and the volatile aroma compounds you are paying for.

Can I use dry Marsala instead of sweet?

Yes, but recalculate. Dry Marsala (secco) has under 40 g of sugar per litre against about 110 g in a Superiore Dolce, so the gelato loses sweetness and a few PAC points; the alcohol contribution stays about the same at the same strength.

What is the difference between Marsala Fine and Superiore?

Under the DOC rules, Fine has at least 17.5% vol and Superiore at least 18% vol, with longer ageing. Superiore Dolce is the classic choice for zabaione.

Does Marsala make gelato softer?

Yes. Gram for gram, ethanol depresses the freezing point several times more than sucrose, so a Marsala gelato serves softer than the same base without it. Balance for it by lowering the dextrose or the total sugar.

Alcohols & Liqueurs

Marsala Wine

Sweet Marsala (Superiore Dolce) is a Sicilian fortified wine at 18% alcohol by volume with about 110 g of sugar per litre. In gelato it is the flavour of zabaione, and its alcohol is a strong freezing-point depressant: by the library's alcohol rule, 100 g adds about 154 PAC, most of it from the ethanol.

Balancing parameters

Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).

Parameter	Value	What it means
Total Solids	12.7%	Everything that isn't water: the backbone of body and scoopability.
Water	73.5%	Free water that will freeze; drives ice-crystal size.
Sugars	10.7%	Total sugars, the source of sweetness and freezing-point depression.
Fat	0%	Carries flavor and gives a rounder, warmer mouthfeel.
MSNF	0%	Milk solids-non-fat: proteins and lactose that stabilize structure.
Protein	0%	Binds water and helps whip in air.
POD (sweetening power)	13	Relative sweetness vs sucrose = 100.
PAC (anti-freezing power)	153.6	Freezing-point depression vs sucrose = 100; controls how soft it scoops.

Typical use: About 3 to 6% of the mix (30 to 60 g per kilo) in zabaione and panettone gelati.

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How to use it in gelato

Zabaione gelato and Christmas crema bases use sweet Marsala at about 3 to 6% of the mix. Add it cold, after the base has been pasteurized and cooled, so the aroma survives. Count it in the balance: 60 g in a 1000 g mix adds about 92 PAC points (80 from the ethanol, 12 from the sugar) and about 8 POD points, so the rest of the sugar has to come down or the gelato serves too soft.

Origin & background

Marsala takes its name from the port in western Sicily where the English merchant John Woodhouse began shipping fortified local wine to Britain in the 1770s; Benjamin Ingham and, from 1833, Vincenzo Florio turned the trade into an industry. It has been a DOC since 1969, and the rules set minimum strengths of 17.5% vol for Fine and 18% vol for Superiore, with secco, semisecco and dolce classes by sugar.

Marsala Wine

Balancing parameters

Balance marsala wine in a real recipe

How to use it in gelato

Origin & background

Frequently asked questions

Sources

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