Recipe books and free recipes
What is the best recipe book for the Tefal Dolci?
The best recipe book for the Tefal Dolci is one that weighs every recipe in grams for the 480 ml tub and for 24 hours at −18 °C: ICED METHOD° by Stefano Chef offers two free PDF books, 20 recipes and 30 sorbets, plus 800+ balanced recipes in the ICED METHOD APP.
A book written for a classic churning ice cream maker doesn’t work in the Dolci, which processes a block that is already frozen: sugars, water and solids must be calibrated. The best Tefal Dolci recipes from a chef are collected in the Tefal Dolci recipe guide.
Where can I find free Tefal Dolci recipes as a PDF?
Free Tefal Dolci recipes as a PDF can be downloaded from icedmethod.com with no email required: the “20 recipes” book, with ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt and spreads, and the “30 Perfect Sorbets” book, with 30 fruit sorbets and their sherbet versions, all weighed for the 480 ml tub.
Get them from free Tefal Dolci recipe books and 30 free sorbets. They also work for the Moulinex Dolci, which is the same machine.
Is there a free sorbet recipe book for the Tefal Dolci?
Yes: “30 Perfect Sorbets” by ICED METHOD° is a free PDF recipe book with 30 fruit sorbets for the Tefal Dolci ice cream maker, each with grams for the 480 ml tub, the fruit’s Brix, the fruit percentage, the SORBET program and a creamier sherbet version.
Every sorbet also has its own page with the full recipe, for example the strawberry sorbet or the lemon sorbet. Download the PDF from 30 sorbets for the Tefal Dolci.
Why don’t recipes from the internet work in the Tefal Dolci?
Recipes from the internet often fail in the Tefal Dolci because they are written for ice cream makers that churn while they chill, or for another machine’s container, while the Dolci shaves a block that is already frozen: water, sugars and solids have to be weighed for the 480 ml tub.
With too little sugar the block comes out hard or icy; with too much it stays soft. In one sentence: your machine works perfectly, it’s the recipe that lets it down. More in why generic recipes don’t work.
Do Ninja Creami recipes work in the Tefal Dolci?
Ninja Creami recipes don’t work as they are in the Tefal Dolci, because the container size and the mechanism are different: on the Ninja the blade moves down into a fixed pint, while on the Dolci the 480 ml tub rises towards the blade. The amounts need scaling and rebalancing.
With amounts designed for other containers you risk going past the MAX line or unbalancing sugars and solids. The differences are explained in Tefal Dolci vs Ninja Creami.
Apps for the Tefal Dolci
Is there an app for Tefal Dolci recipes?
Yes: the ICED METHOD APP (app.icedmethod.com) is built for the Tefal Dolci and the Moulinex Dolci, with 800+ recipes in grams for the 480 ml tub, the right button to press and a traffic light that tells you before you freeze whether the result will be creamy.
It launches on 15 October 2026 in 6 languages: English, Italian, French, Spanish, German and Czech. How it works: Tefal Dolci app. Open it at app.icedmethod.com.
What is the best app for Ninja Creami and Tefal Dolci recipes?
The ICED METHOD APP is built for frozen-first machines: it works with the Tefal Dolci, Moulinex Dolci, Ninja Creami, Ninja Creami Deluxe and Sencor SIC 5050WS, scales every recipe in grams to your machine’s container and tells you the right program, because the buttons change from model to model.
It also has “What’s in my fridge” search, a step-by-step cooking mode, QR lid labels and a machine guide with programs and errors. Details: ICED METHOD APP · Ninja Creami app.
The machine: models, use and comparison
Are the Tefal Dolci and the Moulinex Dolci the same machine?
Yes, the Tefal Dolci and the Moulinex Dolci are the same Groupe SEB machine sold under two brands: Tefal in countries such as Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, Moulinex in Italy, France, Spain and Belgium, with the same 480 ml tubs, the same programs and the same recipes.
Model codes change with colour and country, for example NQ31IG04A and IG602A for Tefal, MJ602AF0, MJ604AF0 and MJ6038F0 for Moulinex; 3 tubs come in the box. ICED METHOD° recipes work for all of them. See how the Dolci works.
How does the Tefal Dolci work and how do you use it?
The Tefal Dolci doesn’t churn like a classic ice cream maker: you make the mix, freeze it for 24 hours at −18 °C in the 480 ml tub, then the machine raises the tub towards a blade that spins and shaves the block layer by layer, turning it creamy in a few minutes.
It’s the same principle as the Pacojet in professional kitchens (frozen-first). The buttons are in English: SORBET, ICE CREAM, GELATO, FROZEN YOGHURT, drinks, RE-SPIN and MIX IN. Guides: how to use the Tefal Dolci · programs.
How many grams fit in the Tefal Dolci tub?
The Tefal Dolci tub holds 480 ml: an ICED METHOD° sorbet weighs 470 g of mix, which stays below the MAX line and leaves room for expansion in the freezer, making about 4 servings. Never fill the tub past the MAX line, either before or after freezing.
For ice creams and spreads the weight changes with the density of the ingredients, which is why recipes are weighed to the gram on a digital scale. Example: strawberry sorbet, 335 g of strawberries in 470 g.
Tefal Dolci or Ninja Creami: which is better?
The Tefal Dolci and the Ninja Creami both process mixes frozen for 24 hours, but in different ways: on the Dolci the 480 ml tub rises to the blade and there is an automatic rinse, on the Ninja Creami the blade moves down into a fixed pint, 710 ml on the Deluxe. Choose by capacity, spare parts and kitchen.
With balanced recipes both make creamy ice cream and sorbet: the recipe matters more than the machine. Full comparison: Tefal Dolci vs Ninja Creami.
Is the Tefal Dolci worth buying? Review and opinions
The Tefal Dolci is worth buying if you eat ice cream or sorbet at least once a week and don’t mind freezing the base 24 hours ahead: with recipes balanced for its 480 ml tub it gives gelato-shop results, while if you use it rarely or want ice cream right away it isn’t worth it.
Stefano Chef uses it every day in his restaurant kitchen, next to the Ninja Creami and the Sencor: his honest review with pros and cons is in is the Tefal Dolci worth it?.
Where can I find the Tefal Dolci manual and instructions as a PDF?
The official Tefal Dolci manual, the same as the Moulinex Dolci one, is on the manufacturer’s support website: the ICED METHOD° Manuals page links to the official instructions, the official recipe book and Stefano Chef’s free technical mini-PDFs on RE-SPIN, frozen fruit and common problems.
Always follow the manual for the MAX line, programs and safety warnings. All the links: Tefal Dolci and Moulinex Dolci manuals.
How do I use the Tefal Dolci beyond ice cream, all year round?
To use the Tefal Dolci all year round, think of it as a small Pacojet: you prepare, freeze in portions and process from frozen not only ice cream and sorbet, but also slushies, frozen yogurt, frozen cocktails, mousses, spreads and savoury preparations, with no oxidation and no waste, in every season.
Many owners put it in a cupboard after six months because they only make ice cream. Ideas and method: beyond gelato · freezing vs refrigerating.
Freezing and programs
How long should I freeze the Tefal Dolci tub?
Freeze the Tefal Dolci tub for 24 hours at −18 °C, standing level, with the lid off for the first hours only and then closed. After just 12 hours the core of the block is often still soft and the result is uneven; after 48 hours or more, leave it out for 10–15 minutes first.
Put the tub in the coldest part of the freezer, never in the door, and fill it below the MAX line: the mix expands as it freezes. Every case in freezing time guide and, if a dome forms, ice dome on the surface.
Which program do I use for sorbet on the Tefal Dolci?
For sorbet on the Tefal Dolci use the SORBET program, designed for mixes of fruit, water and sugars with no dairy; if the sorbet looks powdery after the first spin, run RE-SPIN, adding 1 tablespoon of juice or water if needed, and keep MIX IN for adding pieces.
Sherbet, a sorbet with a little fresh cheese, also goes on SORBET. The other buttons are explained in the Dolci programs guide.
Which program for ice cream, frozen yogurt and slushies?
On the Tefal Dolci use GELATO for Italian-style gelato, ICE CREAM for richer cream bases, FROZEN YOGHURT for yogurt bases and SLUSHY for granita and slushies; the buttons are printed in English on every panel, so the program names are the same whether you bought a Tefal or a Moulinex.
Some versions have SMOOTHIE BOWL, others LIGHT ICE CREAM. The ICED METHOD APP shows the right button for every recipe. All the buttons: Tefal Dolci programs explained.
When should I use RE-SPIN on the Tefal Dolci?
Use RE-SPIN on the Tefal Dolci when the result is powdery, crumbly or too hard after the first program: add 1–2 tablespoons of liquid into the hole in the centre, juice or water for sorbets and milk for ice cream, then spin again, no more than twice in a row.
If you always need more RE-SPINs, the problem is the recipe balance or a freezing time that is too short. Guide: when and how to RE-SPIN.
Sorbets in the Tefal Dolci
How do I make sorbet in the Tefal Dolci?
To make sorbet in the Tefal Dolci, blend ripe fruit, sugar, a little dextrose, 1 g guar gum and water, pour the mix into the 480 ml tub below the MAX line, freeze it for 24 hours at −18 °C and run the SORBET program, with a RE-SPIN if needed.
Fruit makes up 27% to 76% of the mix, depending on how sweet it is. All the recipes: the 30 sorbets fruit by fruit · free PDF.
How do you make sorbet without a traditional ice cream maker?
To make sorbet without a traditional churning ice cream maker, a frozen-first machine like the Tefal Dolci is enough: no churning, you freeze the balanced mix for 24 hours in the tub and the blade shaves it in minutes; with no machine at all you can make a granita by scraping the mix with a fork as it freezes.
Hand-made granita stays more crystalline than sorbet: creaminess comes from the blade breaking the crystals and from sugars weighed to the gram. Ready recipes: 30 free sorbets.
What is the Tefal Dolci lemon sorbet recipe in grams?
For one 480 ml Tefal Dolci tub, the ICED METHOD° lemon sorbet takes 143 g lemon juice, 98 g sugar, 18 g dextrose, 1 g guar gum and water up to 470 g: blend, pour below the MAX line, freeze for 24 hours at −18 °C and run the SORBET program.
Full recipe to the gram: 143 g lemon juice, 3 g unwaxed lemon zest, 1 g pure liquorice powder, 98 g caster sugar, 18 g dextrose, 1 g guar gum (E412), 206 g water. The juice is only 30% of the mix because lemon is very acidic. Steps, chef’s touch and sherbet version: lemon sorbet Tefal Dolci.
How much fruit for a strawberry or lemon sorbet?
How much fruit a Tefal Dolci sorbet needs depends on how sweet and acidic the fruit is: one 480 ml tub takes 335 g of strawberries, which is 71% of the mix, but only 143 g of lemon juice, which is 30%, because lemon is very acidic.
Chef’s rule: the sweeter the fruit, the smaller its share and the less sugar you add. Across the 30 sorbets it ranges from 27% to 76%. Examples: strawberry sorbet · orange sorbet.
How much sugar do I need in a sorbet for the Dolci?
In a Tefal Dolci sorbet the added sugars, sugar plus dextrose, range from 66 to 116 g per 470 g of mix depending on the fruit: less with sweet fruit, more with lemon and lime; with too little sugar the sorbet comes out hard and icy instead of smooth and scoopable.
Sugar does more than sweeten: it lowers the freezing point and keeps the sorbet scoopable at −18 °C. Example: 78 g sugar and 14 g dextrose in the strawberry sorbet.
Can I use frozen fruit for sorbet in the Dolci?
Yes, in the Tefal Dolci you can make sorbet with good-quality frozen fruit: weigh it like fresh fruit, let it thaw just enough to blend it with the sugars, water and guar gum, pour the smooth mix into the tub below the MAX line and freeze for 24 hours at −18 °C.
Don’t put frozen fruit pieces straight into the tub: the Dolci works best on an even block. Out of season, ripe frozen fruit is often better than unripe fresh fruit. Recipes: 30 sorbets.
What is the Brix of fruit and why does it matter for sorbet?
Brix measures the percentage of sugars and other dissolved solids in a fruit’s juice: 10 °Bx means about 10 g per 100 g. It matters for sorbet because a sweeter fruit brings more sugar, so you need a smaller share of fruit and less added sugar to get the same creaminess.
The 30 ICED METHOD° sorbets use indicative values from the Ciqual 2020 table (ANSES), from about 3.5 °Bx for rhubarb to 17.5 °Bx for passion fruit. Full table: 30 Perfect Sorbets.
Why use dextrose in sorbet?
Dextrose is a simple powdered sugar used in sorbet to keep it soft and scoopable at −18 °C: it is less sweet than regular sugar but lowers the freezing point more, so replacing part of the sugar with dextrose prevents a block of ice without making the sorbet too sweet.
In ICED METHOD° sorbets it is weighed to the gram, for example 14 g in 470 g in the strawberry sorbet. If you can’t find it, the ICED METHOD APP helps you rebalance with regular sugar.
What is the difference between sorbet and sherbet?
Sorbet is made only of fruit, water and sugars, with no milk, while sherbet is the same sorbet with a little mascarpone or cream cheese: it has about 2% fat, it is creamier and still light, but it contains milk and lactose.
Each of the 30 ICED METHOD° sorbets has its own sherbet version, on the same SORBET program. Examples in 30 Perfect Sorbets.
Is Tefal Dolci sorbet vegan and dairy-free?
ICED METHOD° sorbets for the Tefal Dolci are dairy-free, egg-free and lactose-free, because they contain only fruit, water, sugar, dextrose, guar gum and sometimes herbs or spices; 29 of the 30 are also vegan, while one contains honey. Sherbet, on the other hand, adds fresh cheese.
For a vegan dessert choose the sorbet version, not the sherbet. All the flavours: 30 sorbets for the Tefal Dolci.
Can I make sugar-free or low-calorie Tefal Dolci recipes?
A completely sugar-free sorbet comes out of the Tefal Dolci as hard as a block of ice, because sugar doesn’t just sweeten, it lowers the freezing point; for fewer calories choose very ripe fruit and balanced recipes, or keto recipes with sweeteners such as erythritol, allulose or xylitol.
In ICED METHOD° sorbets the sugar is weighed to the gram and the rest of the sweetness comes from the fruit. No-added-sugar recipes: keto ice cream.
Problems and fixes
Why is my Dolci sorbet icy, and how do I make a Ninja Creami sorbet that is not icy?
A Tefal Dolci sorbet turns icy when there is too much free water compared with sugars and solids: unripe fruit, sugar not weighed to the gram, too much added water or too short a freeze. A balanced sorbet has about 25–29% total solids, the same rule that keeps a Ninja Creami sorbet from being icy.
If it is powdery after the first spin, that’s normal: RE-SPIN with 1 tablespoon of juice or water. If it is rock hard, leave the tub out of the freezer for 10–15 minutes. Diagnosis: ice cream too hard · grainy texture fix.
Why is my Tefal Dolci ice cream rock hard?
Tefal Dolci ice cream comes out rock hard when the recipe lacks antifreeze power, meaning too little sugar for the amount of water, or when the freezer is colder than −20 °C: your machine works perfectly, it’s the recipe that lets it down; leave the tub out for 10–15 minutes, then RE-SPIN.
To prevent it, weigh the sugars to the gram and add a little dextrose or glucose syrup. Full guide: Tefal Dolci ice cream maker: ice cream too hard · common errors.
Why is my Dolci ice cream grainy or watery?
Tefal Dolci ice cream turns grainy when the ice crystals are too big, because of a short freeze, too little fat or too much water, and watery or separated when the base wasn’t blended well or was refrozen after processing: in both cases the recipe is what matters.
Step-by-step fixes: grainy texture fix · watery ice cream.
Why does the Tefal Dolci stop, or the bowl won’t lock?
If the Tefal Dolci stops mid-cycle, it is almost always the motor protection, because the block is too hard or the machine has run many cycles in a row: unplug it, let it cool down, let the tub soften for 10–15 minutes out of the freezer and start the program again.
If the bowl won’t lock, check for ice or residue on the ring and make sure the mix isn’t above the MAX line. See motor stops mid-cycle · bowl won’t lock.
ICED METHOD° and community
Is there a Tefal Dolci Facebook group, Reddit or community?
Yes: the ICED METHOD° Facebook group, “Moulinex & Tefal Dolci Lab”, is a moderated international community where Tefal Dolci, Moulinex Dolci and Ninja Creami owners share recipes, tests and fixes, in six languages and with free membership; on Reddit, Dolci owners usually post in ice cream maker communities.
Join the Facebook group or read the ICED METHOD° community page.
What is the ICED method and who is Stefano Chef?
ICED METHOD° by Stefano Chef is a method for balancing recipes for frozen-first machines such as the Tefal Dolci, Moulinex Dolci, Ninja Creami and Sencor, created by Stefano Chef (Stefano Fustinoni), an Italian chef who has worked with the professional Pacojet for over ten years and runs a restaurant in Moravia.
He uses these machines every day: that is where the free books, the 30 sorbets and the app come from. What is the ICED method · Stefano Chef’s biography.
Your machine works perfectly. Take it to 100%.
Open the ICED METHOD APP → Free PDF booksTefal, Moulinex and Dolci are trademarks of Groupe SEB, mentioned for descriptive purposes only: ICED METHOD° is not affiliated with or sponsored by them. Always follow your machine’s manual (MAX line, programs, warnings). Allergens: check the label of every product.