Christmas Tortoni Recipes

TORTONI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Break the macaroons into pieces and toast them on a baking sheet until golden, dry and crumbly. Let cool. Grind to fine crumbs in a food processor. You need about 1 cup.
• Combine the sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until the syrup reaches 230 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• Meanwhile, in a mixer, whip the egg whites until they form firm peaks. By hand, whip the yolks until fluffy. In the mixer bowl, fold together the whites and yolks.
• When the sugar is ready, turn on the mixer to medium speed and, with it running, slowly pour in the syrup in a fine thread. Reduce the speed to low and whip until the mixture cools to room temperature. Mix in the vanilla.
• Whip the cream and fold it into the egg mixture.
• Line the base of a 2-quart soufflé dish (or other mold) with parchment. Spoon half the crumbs into the base. Cover with the mousse. Top with the remaining crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
• Dip the base of the dish in a bowl of hot water. Run a knife around the edge of the mold, then invert onto a plate. Cut into wedges.

CHERRY TORTONI

Steps:

• Cook cherries:
• If using frozen cherries, thaw, reserving juices. Simmer cherries, 1/2 cup sugar, and liqueur in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cherries are soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk together cornstarch and water until combined, then whisk into cherry mixture and boil 1 minute. Transfer to a shallow bowl and chill, uncovered, 1 hour.
• Make crust:
• Pulse 1 cup almonds in a food processor until finely ground (do not pulse to a paste). Transfer to a bowl and stir in wafer crumbs and butter with a fork until combined well. Pat crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up side of buttered springform pan, then freeze while making filling, about 30 minutes.
• Make tortoni filling:
• Beat egg whites with remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water using a handheld electric mixer at medium-high speed until whites just hold soft peaks and instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan and continue to beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks, about 2 minutes more.
• Beat cream with Marsala in another bowl at medium speed until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold in ground amaretti and half of whites gently but thoroughly. Fold in remaining whites and pour into crust in pan, smoothing top.
• Drain cherries in a sieve set over a bowl and reserve juices. Scatter cherries evenly over top of tortoni, then swirl cherries into tortoni with tip of a sharp knife for a marbled effect. Sprinkle top of tortoni with remaining 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds and freeze, loosely covered, until firm, at least 4 hours.
• Let stand in pan at room temperature 10 minutes to soften slightly before serving. Carefully remove side of pan, then cut tortoni into wedges and serve with cherry juices.

TORTONI

Steps:

• Scoop ice cream into a bowl; stir until smooth but not melted.
• Stir in pecans, chopped cherries, rum extract and vanilla.
• Spoon into foil baking cups; freeze until firm.
• To serve, garnish each with 1 t whipped cream and a cherry.

APPLE CRISP WITH TORTONI

Steps:

• Make the macaroons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat lightly with a fork.
• In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almond paste, 3/4 cup of sugar and the salt. Pulse until combined. Scrape into the egg whites. Add the confectioners' sugar and fold together.
• Using two spoons, drop the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. (The drops should be about 2 teaspoonsful.) Bake until uniformly golden, about 18 minutes. Let cool; keep the oven on.
• Reserve 4 of the best-looking macaroons. Break the remainder into small pieces and return to the oven for 8 minutes to dry them out. Let cool.
• Pour the toasted macaroon chunks into the food processor and pulse 2 to 3 times. The mixture does not need to be a powder. Pour into a bowl.
• Prepare the apples: Peel, core and cut the apples into 1/4-inch dice. In a large mixing bowl, toss the apples with the sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the lemon zest and juice. Gently mix.
• Make the crisp: In the bowl of the food processor, combine the flour, 3/4 cup ground macaroons, the brown sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter and pulse 4 to 5 times until the butter is pea size.
• In 4 1-cup ramekins, fill the bottom layer with the apple mixture, then a layer of crisp, then another apple layer and another crisp layer. Fill the ramekins overly full; the filling will compress as it bakes.
• Bake until the apple filling is bubbling and the crisp has dried out a bit, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the crisps cool slightly before serving. Top each with a small portion of frozen tortoni and a reserved macaroon.

RACHAEL RAY'S TORTONI

Steps:

• Mix together softened vanilla ice cream (you can soften it in the microwave on defrost for up to 1 minute), crushed coconut cookies, semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped cherries. Refreeze for at least 1 hour.
• When ready to serve, scoop ice cream into 6 serving bowls. Top with heated hot fudge sauce or chocolate syrup and nut topping. Garnish each sundae with a whole cherry and serve.