Tartufo di Pizzo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Ice cream maker
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Food processor
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Melon baller or small spoon for ganache
• •Large bowl set over ice bath

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the chocolate custard base

   In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, 1 cup cream, and half the sugar. Warm over medium heat until steam rises and bubbles form at the edges. Do not boil. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Return everything to the saucepan.

   Temper the yolks properly or you will have sweet scrambled eggs. Pour in a thin stream, whisk without ceasing.
2. 2

   Cook the custard

   Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon and reaches 170°F. Draw your finger across the spoon. If the line holds, the custard is ready. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat immediately.

3. 3

   Make the chocolate gelato base

   Divide the hot custard in half. To one portion, add the cocoa powder and the 4 ounces chopped chocolate. Whisk until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set over ice. Stir occasionally until cold. This is your chocolate gelato base.

4. 4

   Make the hazelnut gelato base

   In a food processor, grind the toasted hazelnuts with 2 tablespoons of sugar from your remaining sugar until they form a paste, about 3 minutes. Add the other half of the custard and the salt. Process until very smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard to extract all the hazelnut flavor. Chill over ice until cold.

   The hazelnuts must be properly toasted and their papery skins rubbed away. Untoasted hazelnuts taste flat. Skins make the gelato bitter and gritty.
5. 5

   Churn the gelato

   Churn each base separately in your ice cream maker according to its instructions. The gelato should be thick and creamy, holding soft peaks. Transfer each flavor to separate containers and freeze until firm enough to scoop but still pliable, about 2 hours. Do not freeze solid.

6. 6

   Make the ganache centers

   Chop the 8 ounces of chocolate finely. Heat the 1/2 cup cream until it just begins to simmer. Pour over the chocolate and let stand 2 minutes, then stir until completely smooth. Pour into a shallow dish and refrigerate until firm enough to scoop, about 1 hour. Using a small spoon or melon baller, form 8 small balls of ganache. Freeze on a parchment-lined tray until solid, at least 30 minutes.

   The ganache centers should be small, no larger than a walnut. They are meant to surprise, not overwhelm.
7. 7

   Shape the tartufi

   Work quickly. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Fill a bowl with cocoa powder for coating. Take a scoop of hazelnut gelato about the size of a golf ball and flatten it slightly in your palm. Place a frozen ganache ball in the center. Working fast, wrap the hazelnut gelato around the ganache, then take a slightly larger scoop of chocolate gelato and wrap it around the hazelnut layer. Shape into a rough sphere with your hands. The tartufo should be slightly irregular, not perfectly round. This is hand-shaped, not factory-made.

8. 8

   Coat and freeze

   Immediately roll the shaped tartufo in cocoa powder, coating it completely. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining gelato and ganache centers. Freeze the tartufi for at least 2 hours, until completely solid. They keep, wrapped individually in plastic, for up to one week.

9. 9

   Serve properly

   Remove tartufi from freezer 5 minutes before serving. The exterior should remain firm, but the ganache center will have softened slightly. Dust with additional cocoa powder if the coating has faded. Serve on small plates. When the spoon breaks through the chocolate gelato and hazelnut layers to reach the dark heart, you will understand why a small town in Calabria built its reputation on this dessert.

Chef Tips

• •The shaping must happen quickly or the gelato becomes unworkable. If it softens too much, return everything to the freezer for 15 minutes and begin again. There is no shame in this. Even the gelatieri of Pizzo work in a cold room.
• •Use the best chocolate you can find. The ganache center is pure chocolate flavor with nowhere to hide. Cheap chocolate announces itself immediately.
• •The traditional tartufo contains chocolate and hazelnut gelato, but some versions in Pizzo use chocolate and nocciola (a lighter hazelnut cream). Either is authentic. What is not authentic is substituting vanilla or strawberry.
• •Do not attempt to make these perfectly spherical. The slight irregularity of hand-shaping is part of their character. A tartufo that looks machine-made has lost its soul.

Advance Preparation

• •The gelato bases can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Churn them the day you plan to shape the tartufi.
• •Ganache centers can be frozen up to one week ahead.
• •Completed tartufi keep wrapped in the freezer for one week. After that, the texture begins to suffer.
• •For a dinner party, shape the tartufi the morning of and freeze. They need at least 2 hours to set completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)