I highly recommend this dessert to anyone (like my one roommate *aheemmmm* Diana) that isn't such an expert at baking :D There is no oven involved! Actually...now that I think about it, my roommate just isn't very good at following a recipe (don't worry, this is why you're a good COOK!) She's more of an "I'm going to add whatever whenever I like while I cook" girl which is okay when cooking. Baking is a little more precise though...but I had fun playing around with this recipe as the ingredients really can be used in any amount based on your taste buds.
The main ingredients in Tartufo are icecream, frozen fruit, milk chocolate, cookie crumbles, and melted chocolate (yes only 5 ingredients!!!) When I looked up a basic Tartufo recipe, the author had used chocolate ice cream, frozen chopped cherries, milk chocolate bits, chocolate cookie crumbles, and dark/milk chocolate coating. However, I decided to mix it up a little bit since I (in contrast to the rest of my family) am not a chocolate freak! (Sorry Mom, Dad, and Alex).
My ingredients were strawberry ice cream, frozen raspberries, Hershey's milk chocolate bars chopped up into tiny bits, chocolate (store brand!) graham crackers crushed with the help of my awesome roommates forehead/muscles, semi-sweet melted chocolate chips with the help of more Hershey's chocolate for the hard coating.
First, you let the ice cream (flavor of your choice, but don't forget to pair it with the just-right frozen fruit) sit out for about 5 minutes to get just a little soft where it's the perfect consistency to scoop out easily. The recipe said 3.5 cups but I did just a bit more--and in my opinion, you could pair the amount of ice cream with the chocolate and fruit however you like it. If you like more ice cream than fruit and chocolate, go right ahead!! No one's stoppin' ya. In my eyes, there is no limit.
When the ice cream is just soft enough, you chop about 1 cup of milk chocolate (I used Hershey's) into fine pieces which you are soon going to mix into the ice cream. My nice roommate decided to be the guest baker and those are his manly arms (no....they are not mine!).
Go ahead and dump that chocolate into the ice cream and begin chopping up your FROZEN fruit of choice! In my case, it was delicious raspberries simply because I think raspberry, strawberry, and chocolate are such a tasty combo! And yup, there is my pale arm...As you can see from the picture, I used store brand frozen fruit as well. That's right, I am a cheap-o.
Then ya add the fruit to the ice cream and milk chocolate mixture and stir it like there's no tomorrow. Actually...don't...then your ice cream will get all milky, gooey, and you won't be able to scoop it into balls silly!
Once you feel like the chocolate and fruit are evenly distributed into the ice cream, set the bowl aside (or in the freezer like I did because I knew the chocolate grahams were going to take a while to crush up finely). Here's where the fun part comes into play. Instead of buying already-crushed-made-for-lazy-folks, I decided to switch it up and buy chocolate graham crackers (yes, store brand...again--hey they taste EXACTLY the same people!) and crush 'em myself! Again...with the fine help of my roommate (the one that likes to help...not the other one...love you Diana!!!!!). This is where the strong foreheads come into play, if you have one handy, I'd suggest using it. Just kidding...you might get a headache...he really didn't use this method for too long!
So, once the migraine hit him, I began using a cup (or you could use whatever is handy to crush the remaining grahams). I used one pack of crackers to roll the scooped ice cream/chocolate/raspberry balls into.
This was the almost finished cracker product!
Then I took the ice cream mixture out of the freezer, used a spoon (I couldn't find my ice cream scooper...which we might not even own...so a spoon worked just fine!) to form and roll the ice cream balls in the crackers.
As you can see in the previous picture, the balls were the perfect size to satisfy your sweet tooth! Once you use up all the ice cream mixture, place the Tartufos into the freezer for 2-3 hours until nice and firm. In the microwave, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 tbsp of oil. Mix in desired amount of milk chocolate to add that extra sweetness. I had to wait a good 20-25 minutes for the chocolate to get to lukewarm so that I could spoon it over the frozen balls.
Drizzle or spoon the chocolate mixture over the frozen ice cream balls and place in the freezer another 2 hours or over night. And there ya have it!!! Easy Tartufo that involves no baking whatsoever!
Oh and don't forget to wait a few moments before biting into one of these...you may get a brain freeze or break a tooth...either way, it won't be fun. So wait 2 minutes, sit back, and enjoy this chocolatey, fruity, bite size (or 2 bites) Italian dessert!
Pair any ice cream with any frozen fruit and chocolate and you will definitely want to make this dessert over and over. Next time, I plan to add nuts or even marshmallows to this delish recipe!
Until next Sunday...see ya!!! Meet me back here to drool over 3 ingredient peanut butter fudge :)
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