Thursday, October 16, 2014

Frozen Chocolate Truffles


It’s time to clean out the freezer – one of my least favorite chores. We do it once in the spring and again in the fall. Thankfully I’ve been more careful about labeling things this year so I don’t find mystery bags of who-knows-what. We found an opened one gallon French vanilla ice cream that contained just enough to make two servings of frozen chocolate cream truffles.



This decadent dessert takes only minutes to prepare, but make sure you allow time necessary for the ice cream balls to properly freeze in both steps. If you want to have fun with it, use a variety of flavors of ice cream for the three truffles that make a serving.

I consider desserts such as these truffles and affogato, the classic Italian ice cream dessert drowned in espresso, to be truly seasonless. Especially after a heavy meal, refreshing desserts are always appropriate regardless of the time of the year.




Frozen Chocolate Truffles
Adapted from The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet by Paulette Mitchell – makes 12 truffles for 4 servings 
Printable Recipe

1 pint of your favorite premium ice cream or a variety of your favorites (I used French vanilla)
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened or sweetened – I used unsweetened)

Optional garnishes:
4 fresh strawberries
4 sprigs of mint

Use the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate as a template to cut a sheet of wax paper to fit the pie plate. Using a small (about 1 ½”) ice cream scoop, drop 12 balls of ice cream onto the pie plate. If the ice cream balls have rough edges, use a small teaspoon to smooth their surface. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and freeze for ½ hour or until firm.

When you are ready to assemble the truffles, put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on MEDIUM for about 1 ½ minutes or until liquid. Stir the chocolate to melt any remaining chunks and set to cool slightly.

While the melted chocolate is cooling, spread the cocoa powder on a large plate or a sheet of wax paper for easy clean-up. Roll the frozen ice cream balls in the powder, pressing gently, and return them to the wax paper covered pie plate. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the ice cream balls. Return the plate to the freezer for at least ½ hour before serving. To store for up to 2 days, cover with plastic wrap. Recipe makes 12 truffles for 4 servings. Garnish each serving if desired with a strawberry and a sprig of fresh mint.

*Cook’s note: I placed the martini glasses in the freezer to help keep the truffles from melting. I suggest that you do the same, whether you serve them on a platter or in a glass.



For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Weekend Bites at Simple Recipes.

Have a great weekend everyone.

32 comments:

  1. Yum. Those are so easy and decadent Sam. There is a new Italian cafe that has opened less than a block from my work with homemade gelato of every kind ready and waiting to go into an affogato.

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  2. While I'm about to do the same thing, I don't think there's any French vanilla ice cream lurking behind the "what is this" containers in the freezer. So delicious. So easy.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  3. A luscious dessert! Incredibly tempting.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  4. Looks delish Sam. I have become more diligent in labeling because it all looks like UFOs (unidentified frozen objects) after a while in my freezer.

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  5. What splendid way to clear out the freezer!

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  6. What a nice idea! I would never say no to the offer of ice cream!

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  7. Sam, Never knew how to make these great little treats! Thanks for the instruction... Laurie would just love these...ice cream and chocolate...2 of her favorites! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  8. Oh wow, guess what I will be making tomorrow :-) Have a great weekend Diane

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  9. Yes!, love this Sam, looks so easy. You make cleaning out the freezer fun.

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  10. There's always room for ice cream :) What a great idea, Sam and they look delicious!

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  11. Such an elegant dessert Sam! And I agree, it's much more fun to find ice cream than unmarked packages of mystery meat:@)

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  12. Oh my, I love this idea, Sam. With some of these yummy truffles in the freezer I would always be ready to serve a delicious dessert. This will be a must for the upcoming holidays.

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  13. Sam, when reading the title I did not realize that it was ice cream covered with chocolate...yum! This is such a beautiful way to serve ice cream...I will definitely try this.
    Hope you are having a great week :)

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  14. I adore frozen truffles! These look incredibly tempting and delicious, Sam.

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  15. I keep saying we need to clean out our freezer as well (also not a chore that I enjoy), but we haven't yet. These truffles look delicious and are a super yummy treat to make with your ice cream.

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  16. What a wonderful idea! I'll definitely make them for our next dinner party. A perfect dessert, not too heavy, made ahead of time, and a fancy presentation.

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  17. What a fun, easy and delicious treat. I cleaned my freezer out last week too but didn't find anything to transform into something so yummy :)

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  18. What a wonderful, refreshing treat this would be.

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  19. Looks like a clever and delicious treat Sam

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  20. These look delicious - but - I can't imagine 'finding' an opened container of ice cream in our freezer. My hubbie is an ice creamaholic!!!!!

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  21. Perfect dessert, Sam. Elegant yet simple to prepare. Yes, I would be fun to try flavors, but I confess (as ice cream is my downfall) I rarely have flavors in my freezer, in fact I rarely have ice cream left. Although I did make an ice cream type post for Christmas and now wish I had seen this. It would have been perfect...it was white chocolate ice cream!

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  22. Elegant AND easy -- a winning combination!

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  23. wow what a fun dessert and looks gourmet love it

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  24. dear Sam, Certainly looks delicious!! Blessings dear. Catherine

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  25. they are frozen! No way! What a clever idea. I love my treats icy and cold. this looks amazing and so rich. Definitely a nice treat

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  26. Love this idea Sam. Thanks for sharing.... and my freezer is needing a little help right now. Why is it always full?

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  27. My daughter loves making freezer desserts. Look terrific... going to show it to her when she gets home from school. Pinned.

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  28. Ohh la la Sam. I love this. Beautiful presentation. I have been trying to do a better job of labeling for the freezer. I pulled out something the other day that I thought was pie crust, but it turned out to be pizza dough. LOL.

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  29. Sam, this will be a very special treat that I can't wait to try. Hope you are having a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
    Hope to see you again soon!
    Miz Helen

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  30. I would give anything to clean out my freezer and find long-forgotten ice cream that must be used up. (Not possible.) What a fun way to use ice cream - and one can theoretically exercise portion control with this recipe. Theoretically.

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