Miniature Tartufi Recipes

TARTUFO

Steps:

• Caramel sauce:
• In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar with 1/4 cup of water.
• Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture turns a deep golden brown. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Tartufo:
• Combine the cookie crumbs and chocolate chunks in a large resealable bag.
• Using a large round ice cream scoop, scoop out a ball of ice cream and leave it in the scoop. Poke a hole in the center of the scoop with a handle of a wooden spoon and put a cherry into the hole. Cover the hole with a bit of ice cream and put the scoop of ice cream into the bag of cookies and chocolate pieces. Shake around pressing gently to completely coat the ice cream. Put the scoop on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes. Repeat the process with remaining ingredients.
• Before serving, divide the caramel sauce among 4 plates. Remove the Tartufos from the freezer and slice them in half. Arrange 2 halves on each plate and garnish with mint sprigs.

TARTUFI

Steps:

• Line two large dinner plates with plastic wrap or parchment paper and put them in the freezer. Once the plates are chilled, use an ice cream scoop to make balls of your favorite ice cream, setting them on one of the plates. Take care that the scoops are solid and well formed, with no dangling bits of ice cream; use your hands if necessary. Freeze the ice cream scoops thoroughly.
• To dip the Tartufi, melt the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, remove the bowl of chocolate from the improvised double boiler. Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer, and the second plate as well.
• Here the trick is to going to be to try to get as thin a shell as possible around the ice cream. Using two soup spoons, drop a frozen scoop of ice cream into the melted chocolate mixture and toss it quickly until it's coated. Transfer it onto the unused dinner plate. Repeat with the remaining scoops of ice cream, then return the scoops to the freezer until ready to serve.

MINI STRAWBERRY TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease mini muffin pans.
• Place cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour, one cup at a time, until all is incorporated. Roll dough into 70 small balls, and press each into a mini muffin pan cup to form the pastry crusts.
• Bake crusts in preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool.
• Stir gelatin, sugar, and food coloring into the boiling water. Place over high heat; bring back to a boil. Stir together cornstarch and water to make a paste. Stir the cornstarch mixture in the boiling gelatin until dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Spoon cooled gelatin mixture evenly into tart shells. Push a strawberry half down into each tart. If desired, top each tart with a small amount of whipped cream or whipped topping just before serving.

MINIATURE TARTUFI

Steps:

• In a bowl whisk together the sugar, the cornstarch, the whole egg, and the yolk until the mixture is combined well and add the milk, scalded, in a stream, whisking. In a saucepan bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, boil it, whisking, for 2 minutes, and stir in the unsweetened chocolate, stirring until the custard is smooth. Let the custard cool, its surface covered with plastic wrap, and chill it until it is cold. Stir in the cream and freeze the custard in an ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions until it is almost firm. Transfer the ice cream to a metal bowl and freeze it until it is firm but not solid.
• Scoop out 1 portion with a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop and level it with a knife. Press a cherry half into the center of the scoop and turn out the scoop into an ice-cube tray without the divider or a metal pan, turning it flat side up. Make 11 more cherry-filled scoops in the same manner, turning them out into 2 more ice-cube trays. Smooth the ice cream remaining in the bowl and freeze it and the prepared ice-cream scoops until the ice cream is firm but not solid. Working with 1 tray of scoops at a time, scoop out 1 portion of the ice cream from the bowl with the scoop, leveling it as before, and press the leveled side against the leveled side of 1 of the cherry-filled scoops. Smooth the edges of the scoops to form a smooth ball and transfer the ball to the tray. Working quickly, make 11 more balls with the remaining ice cream in the same manner and freeze them until they are firm but not solid.
• In a bowl combine well the almonds and the bittersweet chocolate, roll the ice cream balls in the mixture, pressing the coating gently to make it adhere, and transfer the confections to the foil cups. The confections may be made 5 days in advance and kept covered and frozen.