Tartufo

A tartufo is a ball of ice cream or gelato, coated with nuts or a chocolate coating. In Italy, tartufo usually include a cherry in the center.http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/tartufo.html The tartufo coating can either be hard, or just a crumb like coating that the ice cream ball is rolled in.

Any flavor of ice cream can be used to make tartufo, although vanilla or chocolate are the most traditional. Since truffles are usually white or black, vanilla ice crean rolled in nuts or chocolate ice cream coated in chocolate crumbs come closest to having the tartufo resemble its namesake, the truffle.

It is alleged by some that the original tartufo were made by French chefs sometime after the French Revolution, and were actually chocolate candies made to resemble wild ruffles. These decadent confections were exchanged in France as Christmas gifts. The introduction is of ice cream into the tartufo is a more more modern adaptation.http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/tartufo.html

Tartufo are usually served individually, with a sauce or fruit coulis that complements the ice cream and coatings. Common sauces are chocolate, caramel, or raspberry coulis. The sauces can be piped on the plate with a pastry bag for an attractive design, before the tartuffo are placed on top. If the tartufo are large, they may sliced in half when plated, revealing the cherry are other contents inside.