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Little truffles with surprise: the alternative to Easter eggs

The best part of an Easter egg is definitely opening it to find out what surprise it contains, so I didn’t want to miss out on this pleasure by proposing a mouth-watering dessert that is perfect for a picnic on the first days of spring: my Little truffles with surprise.

Thinking of the perfect dessert for an Easter Monday lunch, perhaps by the sea or surrounded by nature, a bite-sized treat to be eaten without cutlery is definitely the perfect solution. And do you know how my Little truffles with surprise were born? By pure chance with ingredients found in the fridge after my online cooking course on Fantastic Tarts. I recommend not underestimating the surprise effect by putting whatever you like in the centre of the soft mascarpone cream: in addition to my suggestions, give free rein to your imagination to make each bite unique.

Another added value of Little truffles with surprise is that you can prepare the dough even a week in advance by storing it in the freezer! Simply take it out of the freezer a few hours before completing the preparation… in short, a dessert for busy mums.

And if you want to know what my Easter lunch menu is going to be, here it is: Tuna and pepper quiche, Herb-marinated chicken salad and Little truffles with surprise.

Little truffles with surprise

33.15g carbohydrates per 100g of truffles without filling

Ingredients for about 20 little truffles

  • 250g Mascarpone
  • 180g shortbread biscuits**
  • 45g icing sugar*
  • 30g espresso coffee
  • filling to taste: jam*, berries, chocolate cream*, hazelnut cream*, almonds, hazelnuts, dried fruit
  • bitter cocoa powder*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Blend the shortbread biscuits in a mixer, then mix them with Mascarpone, icing sugar and espresso coffee to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Place the mixture in the freezer to harden and make it workable.
  2. When the mixture is firm, weigh out 25g spoonfuls, flatten them on the palm of one hand and place the filling of your choice in the centre, closing to form a ball.
  3. Place the cocoa powder in a soup dish or small bowl and roll the truffles in it so that they are well coated with cocoa.
  4. Place the truffles in paper cups and keep them in the fridge, taking care to remove them about 30 minutes before serving.

N.B.: to use them for a picnic, keep them in the freezer until the last moment, then store them in a cooler until ready to eat.

Tartufini-close-up

Version with gluten of Little truffles with surprise

Replace gluten-free shortbread biscuits with conventional biscuits; all other ingredients are naturally gluten-free, so no adaptations are necessary.

 

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Herb-marinated chicken salad

You know those recipes you can no longer do without? Herb-marinated chicken salad is definitely one of them. I therefore decided to share it at the beginning of summer because it will be the ideal solution for many occasions, from a trip to the mountains, to a lunch on the beach or in the office, this cold dish has an irresistible aroma and a flesh as soft as tuna.

Another not insignificant aspect is that you can prepare the chicken and marinate it in the aromatic oil even one or two days in advance and the result will be even more extraordinary because the meat will be even tenderer.

In addition to the courgettes in the marinade, serve the Chicken Salad with any other seasonal vegetables and you will have solved a naturally gluten free and virtually carbohydrate free meal. A possible pairing could be Cherry tomatoes with bread and anchovies.

Herb-marinated chicken salad    

negligible carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 800g boiled chicken breast
  • 300g courgettes
  • 150g extra virgin olive oil (which you will re-use once you have eaten the chicken)
  • 30g Pantelleria capers in salt
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 4 star anise berries
  • 1 tuft of thyme
  • oregano
  • chili
  • salt
  • lettuce and mixed leafy greens to taste

Preparation

  1. Cut the courgettes into ribbons with a mandoline and grill them for a few minutes on a grill or in the oven at 200°C on a baking tin covered with parchment paper. Put the oil in a saucepan, add the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, thyme, salt, chilli and peeled garlic in fillets. Let everything gain flavour on a low heat for about 10 minutes, taking care not to fry the spices.
  2. Desalt the capers, cut the cooked chicken into pieces, put it in an airtight jar with the capers, the still-warm aromatic oil and the courgette ribbons, possibly adding more oil to cover the chicken; close the container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
  3. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator a few hours before serving, mix well, season with a pinch of oregano and serve accompanied with lettuce and other mixed leafy greens to taste.

Note: the marinade oil remaining in the container will be excellent for dressing other salads and as a base for preparing other dishes.

L'insalata di pollo pronta per essere gustata

Version with gluten of Herb-marinated chicken salad

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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