Italy has given us so much inspiration in life. Michelangelo, the Tower of Pisa, Italian ice…and if that wasn’t compelling enough. It has also given us a great little dessert called Tartufo.
The truffle shaped ice cream dessert originated in Pizzo, Calabria located in the southern region of Italy. Usually composed of two or more flavors of ice cream, the dessert encases a strawberry, raspberry or cherry. It can also be filled with fruit syrup or chocolate sauce.
The dessert was born out of the ingenuity of its creator, Giuiseppi De Maria, more commonly known as Don Pippo, When running low on molds to shape the ice cream being served to guests, Don Pippo formed the well-known truffle-sized ice cream in the middle of his hand. Once the fruit (or syrup/chocolate sauce) is inserted in the middle of the ice cream, it’s rolled in crumbled chocolate wafers then wrapped up in sugar paper then frozen.
Tartufos are great to make for an after-dinner dessert because it’s easy peasy! Just a few ingredient, a trifle of time spent in the kitchen and Ba-da-boom, you’re in business. See the ingredients and recipe instructions below.
Ingredients
- 5-6 chocolate waffle cones (In the traditional Italian recipe, chocolate wafers are used instead)
- 8 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 8 amaretto-soaked cherries (If you don’t want to use alcohol, there are non-alcoholic versions of amaretto)
- 12 ounces prepared caramel sauce
- 1/3 cup (40g) chopped walnuts
See the recipe instructions here.
Multi Cultural Cooking Network 