Stop the Traffik: White Chocolate and Almond Tartufi

October 7, 2007 at 4:40 pm | Posted in events, ice creams & frozen, sweet things | 17 Comments

I haven’t always given as much thought as I do now about where my food comes from, but over the last few years I have tried to become a better educated and more responsible shopper and eater.  This is not just in terms of nutrition and what is in my food, but also in terms who is growing, making and selling it, and what is involved in its production.  When I saw that R khooks was hosting a  Stop the Traffik Chocolate Competition to promote awareness of child labor on cocoa plantations, I definitely wanted to contribute a submission.

How do you know the cocoa beans in the chocolate you are buying haven’t been harvested by the hands of children or forced laborers?  One way is to look for the fairtrade label, showing that the product complies with international standards regarding fair prices, labor conditions and environmental sustainability, among other things.  There are several brands of fairtrade chocolate that are pretty easy to find, so I went to my local healthfood store to have a look.  I saw an organic brand called Cocolo that I hadn’t tried before, and picked up a couple bars of their dark chocolate and a bar of white chocolate with almond crunch. Then I spent some time wondering what I’d do with them.  I broke off a teeny sample of each.  Truthfully, all white chocolate makes my teeth hurt a little, and eaten straight-up this one was no exception, but the crunchy almond bits were what attracted me to it.  At 58%, the dark chocolate was a bit sweeter than I would normally use, but it was smooth and I knew I could put it to good use.  My plan for the chocolates would take a couple days from start to finish, but I decided to make tartufi– delicious little balls of chocolate-coated ice cream with a cherry hidden in the center.

First I made a regular custard-style ice cream base, adding in chopped white chocolate and almond extract after it was off the heat.  I like to make my base the night before I plan to spin my ice cream, so it can have time to chill really well before I use it.  And since I don’t have a self-freezing ice cream machine I put my canister in the freezer at the same time.  This way, every thing is good to go the next morning, and I can even churn the ice cream while I’m getting ready for work.

Once I had my white chocolate and almond ice cream made, I put it away to firm up before scooping.  It’s a good idea to put a plastic lined sheet tray in the freezer as well, so you have a cold suface ready to go when you form your tartufi.  It will take several hours of chilling before the ice cream will hold a round shape (although if you find you’ve jumped the gun and they get a bit melty, just put your ice cream scoops back in the freezer for a couple hours and gently reshape).  About ten minutes before scooping, I macerated some drained canned dark cherries with a couple drops of almond extract.  I used a spring-loaded 1 3/4-inch scoop to make nice round balls of ice cream, tucking a cherry into each one as I scooped.  Then they went back into the freezer overnight.

While there is a lot of wait-time involved in making tartufi, the only challenging part is coating them in chocolate.  I saw one recipe that advised skewering each tartufo with a toothpick and dunking them one-by-one in the melted dark chocolate.  I managed this for my first one, but after that, the ice cream was sliding around on the toothpick and the chocolate was getting too cold.  Potential disaster!  On to plan B, which was using a couple spoons to gently coax the glaze onto each ball.  There is also plan C, which is just to put a nice spoonful of glaze on top of each tartufo, and let it drip down around it.  I did for that about half of my tartufi.  While they were not completely encased in chocolate, they still looked pretty. 

Made with lousy ice cream, tartufi can be pretty lackluster.  But with great-flavored homemade ice cream, I can’t even tell you how *seriously fabulous* these are.  And they taste even better knowing you have made them with fairtrade chocolate! 

If you want to read more on cocoa production and fairtrade standards, here are a few places to start: Stop the Traffik, Fair Trade Certified and FLO International.

White Chocolate and Almond Tartufi– makes 15 pieces

-Make the ice cream and chill it until it is quite firm (recipe below).  Place a plastic-lined sheet tray in the freezer for later.

-About 10 minutes before scooping, drain 15 canned dark cherries.  Put into a small bowl and toss with a couple drops of almond extract.  Set aside to macerate.

-To form each tartufo, scoop a round ball of firm ice cream (I used a spring-loaded 1 3/4-inch scoop), inserting one cherry in the center as you scoop.  Place onto the chilled plastic-lined sheet tray.  Repeat for each one, and then return to the freezer for several hours or overnight.  You may have extra ice cream (which is delicious as is)…you can can save it in case your scoops melt a little on you.  If that is the case, re-form with the ice cream scoop, using extra ice cream if needed, and re-chill before dipping.

-Once your scoops have chilled firm, make the chocolate glaze (recipe below).  Pour into a cup or a deep bowl.  Use the technique that works best for you to coat the scoops in the chocolate.  You can either dip them with a skewer, use two spoons to turn them in the glaze or simply spoon the glaze over them.  Gently re-heat glaze if you need to.

-As you go, sprinkle each tartufo with toasted chopped almonds before the chocolate sets.

-Return to freezer for at least an hour before eating.

White Chocolate and Almond Ice Cream– makes about a quart

300g heavy cream
300g whole milk
pinch of salt
100g sugar
3 large egg yolks
1/2 t cornstarch
100g white chocolate, chopped (I used white chocolate with bits of almond)
1 t almond extract 
pinch xanthan gum (optional, can be found in healthfood stores)

-In a small, heavy bottomed saucepot, combine the milk, cream, salt and half the sugar.  Bring to a simmer.

-Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch and remaining sugar together in a medium bowl until pale and thickened.  Also, place your chopped white chocolate into a separate medium bowl and set aside.

-Once the liquid reaches a simmer, temper the yolk mixture and return the whole thing to the pot, whisking.  Place over low heat and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir constantly.  Do not boil it, but get it thick enough to coat the back of the spoon/spatula and hold a line if you wipe your finger through it.  This will take several minutes.

-Pass through a fine sieve into the bowl containing the white chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute or two to melt the chocolate.  Whisk to combine and add in almond extract.  Also add in the xanthan gum if using (I didn’t measure, just threw in a good pinch.  The tiniest amount will help keep your ice cream from getting icy while in freezer, but this is optional.)

-Chill over an ice bath until room temperature.  Then cover and refrigerate overnight.  (The next day, give it a taste before you churn it and add more almond extract if the flavor is not strong enough for you.)

-Spin chilled base according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.  Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for several hours until firm.

Dark Chocolate Glaze

200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
1/2 t vegetable oil

-Melt chocolate with butter and oil over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring well to combine.  This glaze will set crunchy when chilled.