Monday, February 9, 2009

Vanilla Gelato Bites with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Prep Time: 1 hr
Level: Easy
Yield: 16 servings


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)


Directions

Special equipment: bite-sized ice cream scoop and wooden popsticks


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.)

From: foodnetwork.com

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