Photo: Vanilla Gelato Bites with Chocolate and Hazelnuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pint vanilla gelato or ice cream
- 1 (12-ounce) bag chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
- 1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts (about 5 ounces)
- Special equipment: bite-sized ice cream scoop and wooden popsticks
Directions
Place a small tray or a plate in the freezer. Remove the gelato from the freezer to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove the chilled tray from the freezer. Scoop out 16 bite-sized balls of gelato and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and quickly insert a wooden popstick into each gelato ball. Return them to the freezer for at least 1 hour.
When the gelato balls have frozen with their sticks in place, place the chocolate in a double-boiler over very gently simmering water until melted. Next to the pot of chocolate, place the toasted, chopped hazelnuts in a shallow bowl.
Remove the gelato balls from the freezer, 4 at a time. Working quickly, hold the gelato ball by the stick and dip into the melted chocolate, then dredge it in the hazelnuts. Return them to the freezer and continue with 4 more gelato balls, until all the gelato balls are covered in chocolate and nuts. Freeze the chocolate-and-nut-covered gelato for at least 1 hour.
These are very fun, festive, and tasty. The ice cream scoop I used is a number 40 (holds 1 tablespoon, is 1 1/2 inches in diameter.)
Review This Recipe
You must be logged in to review this recipe.
or Sign Up to Review
Newest Ratings and Reviews
Read all 31 reviews
By Grace~
Mission Viejo, CA
on December 27, 2012
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
After reading the reviews, I was determined I was going to make this work for a little leftover vanilla ice cream I had and I wanted to serve it to my 8 guests as a mini-teaser right after dinner and before the 3 other desserts were presented after playing board games. My friends class me as a gourmet cook and I also worked with many chefs and learned alot. However, I spent more time trying to get the chocolate to stick to the ice cream as the chocolate (even tried 3 different types would harden after hitting the cold ice cream. I molded the balls to look very round and even worked from the freezer. I ended up coating the balls only with the hazelnuts. This unsuccessful process took me over an hour and I could've spent that time making a fabulous French apple tart. Sorry, Giada but I wouldn't even make this for my grandkids.
By heather_6386614
Stanhope, NJ
on May 19, 2010
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
I too used 3 bags of chips to get these to stick. As soon as any of the chocolate got into the chips...forget it. How did she make it look so easy on TV? Just not fair and i was using them tonight for a party. Now i am out of luck on a dessert.
By skcox13_12007522
Berthoud, 44
on July 23, 2009
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
I did not have a problem with getting the chocolate to coat the gelato balls, but after the first two, the small amounts of melted gelato that got into the melted chocolate made the chocolate clump up and become very non-user-friendly. I ended up rolling the clumpy chocolate into balls, rolling them in the nuts and freezing them. Too bad, because the two gelato balls that did get made were delicious!
Read all 31 reviews