You can use a small bowl or prepare today’s dessert in the palm of your hand.
What could it be? Here are some clues:
- It originated in Italy.
- It’s a little over 70 years old.
- It was invented to solve a problem.
- It’s delightful in the summer.
- It contains chocolate.
What if I told you, it often bears a resemblance to a DQ chocolate dipped cone?
Yeah, me neither. I only recently became acquainted with Tartufo di Pizzo, an easy to make gelato and chocolate dessert which can be quickly customized for your summer party.
Around 1970, there was a wedding reception at Bar Dante in Pizzo, Italy. A chef known as Don Pippo realized he would run out of gelato molds before he shaped enough gelato for the anticipated guests. Working with what he had, Don Pippo placed a small amount of hazelnut gelato and a small amount of chocolate gelato in the palm of his hand. He added some melted chocolate and wrapped the whole thing in sugar paper creating the mound shape of the tartufos served today.
Tartufo is the Italian word for truffle and these mounds of gelato and chocolate can be rolled in chocolate to visually mimic candy truffles. Another option is to coat them with a hard chocolate shell. This is my preferred version. My grandchildren turn the shell over and use it like a bowl.
The dessert is simple to make. You only need two flavors of gelato or ice cream, semi-sweet chocolate chips, coconut oil and any add-on you’d like in the center. Many recipes call for a cherry. Some call for crushed wafer cookies mixed with coconut oil.
An easy kid-friendly version is vanilla ice cream, crushed Oreos mixed with a little coconut oil, then chocolate ice cream. The whole thing is drizzled with a melted mixture of chocolate chips and coconut oil that cools to form the shell. The kids love it!
I’m boozing-up a fresh peach with bourbon and spices to put in the center of an adult tartufo that uses butter pecan or pistachio gelato paired with vanilla. Crushed Ava organic coconut crispy rollers would be an excellent addition to surround the peach.
My neighbors heard about this plan and have volunteered to taste test as many as I’d like to make! I can experiment with multiple combinations and not worry about eating too many myself. And you won’t need to worry about my hands freezing.
I use small bowls lined with plastic wrap to hold the gelato layers. I’m pretty sure I’m too slow to avoid melting the it if I tried to use my hands. I even place the first flavor and center components in the freezer to firm up before adding the second flavor.
Once that’s complete, I freeze the dessert in the bowls overnight and coat with chocolate the next day. They need to sit in the freezer for an hour to harden the shell, then I can wrap them individually in plastic wrap until I’m ready to serve.
Even though I may have used bowls to make them, when I remove them from the freezer, I have dessert in the palm of my hand! Get some tartufos and you too can have a chocolatey, cold, and super-sweet dessert in the palm of your hand!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Five Easy Ways to Freshen Up Your Summer Menu! – in thriver words (cooking2thrive.com)
