UA-141369524-4

Category: holiday desserts

Tartufo – Individual Birthday Cakes

Tartufo can be your next dessert or even birthday cake you’ll be dreaming of. It’s kinda like an ice cream cake with an Italian vibe.

The recipe below is made with love and a mascarpone ice cream fitting for tartufo individual cakes that you and party guests will love. 💗

Tartufo cake that has a special ice cream and surprise in the middle that can be served individual or shared for parties.

Tartufo is not a common dessert.

You don’t hear people talking about it much in everyday life, but this spumoni resembling one inside is a delicious party dessert! 🎉

As the name sounds, tartufo has Italian roots. Not only is it an ice cream cake, but it’s also a truffle or edible fungus.

And with a dome shape, it’s fitting for both.

It also has spreads its wings into other continents as others (like me) can’t resist…

And anyone who gets like a giddy birthday party girl over ice cream cake. 🎈

Tartufo cake inside with a cherry center.

Facts about Tartufo:

First off, tartufo is usually made with gelato, but the cheese ice cream (recipe below 👇) I think is as delish and simple to make…

The ice cream is made with mascarpone cheese and yogurt and didn’t need an ice cream maker.

Mascarpone is a smooth and creamy cheese that when frozen has an ice cream texture. It’s kinda like cream cheese but more smooth and less sticky.

And if you’re looking for a dairy-free version, a tartufo with spumoni ice cream made from coconut oil is another delicious option.

Either way, the sweet and fresh pairing flavors add a tasty-dreamy reality. If you’re looking for spring color inspiration, this dessert could be the one! 🌱

And in the middle, what makes a tartufo extra special is biting into the surprise center that’s often a cherry, like in a cherry cordial… where the effect is different than a cherry on top like on a sundae that’s usually eaten first or put to the side. 🍒

If a cherry alone excites you (like it does me)… then you may want to stop reading and start making this! 💕

And if you aspire to healthy desserts and low-sugar 🙋🏻‍♀️, the healthy ingredients include Greek yogurt, pistachios, Pandan, cherries, coconut oil, and honey…

So you’re getting adult ingredient tastes and low-sugar healthy sensibilities that good for longevity and especially if you follow an anti-inflammatory or Mediterranean diet.

And it’s not just the healthy dessert aspects you’ll love…  it’s an easy (no bake dessert recipe) to make that can easily be shared!

And the last bit that everyone will love is the hard chocolate shell that gives a dessert ice cream bar vibe that always put smiles on faces of all ages.

The best way to melt chocolate I have found works for this dessert too.

Print

Tartufo Dessert (Individual Dessert Serving)

This recipe is for a dessert plate to share for 1-2 people.
Course Dessert
Cuisine desserts
Author Brandy@HealthyHappyLifeSecrets

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain and unsweetened
  • 1/4 mascarpone
  • Pandan gel
  • 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped
  • extra pistachios, finely chopped for topping
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • 2 tbsp chocolate for top coating

Instructions

  • Mix mascarpone with chopped pistachios and a drop of pandan gel until you get a consistent green color.
  • Add plastic wrap inside your small bowl with an overhang for easy pullout so that the cheese doesn't stick to the bowl. Add the mascarpone cheese to the bowl. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then add a layer of the Greek yogurt that will be the bottom layer. Add the surprise cherry or sweet treat in the middle. Freeze again. Make your melted chocolate. Onto plate: drizzle honey at the bottom and add your tartufo.
  • Pour melted chocolate quickly ontop of the frozen tartufo, and add fine pistacho crumbles before the chocolate sets. Freeze again.
  • About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat and enjoy, bring out to room temps from the freezer. Serve and enjoy.

Cocoa Balls (No Bake)

Cocoa balls are a fun way to ring in the holidays. ✨They’re festive and healthy! And these shiny ones are made from dark cocoa and natural peanut butter. No baking needed.

Working in event planning for a decade, I learned to be creative with food to decorate a plate for events like this…

Cocoa balls with melted chocolate on a decorative chocolate peanut food plate.

The ingredients are simply rolled up and then dipped in melted dark chocolate… and then zhughed with some fun nonpareils. The recipe is below. ❣️

…I love how a little uniform tiny confectionary dots can add a smile that reminds me of childhood innocence. I’m easily amused. 😊

Old-fashioned nonpareils bring a nice, FUN texture candy crunch or sprinkle to a party table. I’m sure Girl Meets Farm Molly Yeh would agree with me. 🥳

And their perfectly round shape balance an imperfect confectionary creation for us imperfect humans.

We can put our own stamps on these cocoa balls.

These ones could have been cocoa powder dusted (like a chocolate truffle) with a dry look.

But I think the step of giving a tempered chocolate coating-look bring some added happy temperaments. 😋

Getting a best melted chocolate coating without making a ganache is seconds-easy, and healthy with plant-based ingredients like dark chocolate that’s also anti-inflammatory healthy.

Then you can roll these cocoa balls into their fun paper candy holders that are ready to be shared or popped in your mouth.

Cocoa balls with nonpareils are an easy sweet party snack.

…I guess you could say these please the girl scrapbooker in me that likes anything paper and dainty you could use for parties! 🎊 A piñata and a few balloons never hurt either! 🎈

Then with any extra melted chocolate you have leftover, while still wet and room temperature, you can mix in peanuts, raisins, other nuts, or dried fruits to make a healthy snack or plate decoration.

And this type of festive Fiesta plate can be one of your dessert table centerpieces that you can make in advance and set out.

For parties, it’s always good to make more than you think you will need, so you can plate up quickly if needed.

And actually, I could’ve turned this plate into a decorative wreath piping in green leaves and red accents or adding mint leaves and glace maraschino cherries like on this Christmas bundt cake if I wanted to get all decked out. 🍒

Another simple and festive no-bake recipe you can add to your festive table is mint chocolate biscuits.

Print

Cocoa Balls

These are tasty and healthy sweet snacks that you can make in minutes.
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp coconut oil, solid form
  • 1 tbsp natural peanut butter (smooth and creamy)
  • 1/3 cup peanut flour or gluten-free flour
  • 1 tsp raw honey (or maple syrup)
  • 1 tbsp cocoa
  • 1 tsp liquid (coffee, water, MCT oil, etc.)
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips melted
  • nonpareils (optional)

Lemon Cookies – Healthy For the Holidays

Lemon cookies are one tasty way to brighten up your holiday and Christmas cookie baking fun. 🎄

At first, it may sound strange to bake in lemon during the holidays.

…Because when we think of  Christmas cookies, we traditionally think of chocolate, pistachio, or spices for Christmas-y vibes… and not summery lemon-y ones.

…But actually lemon is a winter fruit as most citrus fruits are.

Tip: you can buy lemons in the grocery stores in the winter months and freeze them for year-round use. You can save money this way as lemons are abundant in winter and when their price falls.

And these two healthy-inspired lemon cookies warm up the holiday baking season and festivities…

How to make these lemon strawberry and lemon rosemary cookies are step-by-step below…  ⬇️

…So now that we’ve established lemons 🍋 are great, tasty year-round ingredients, they’re also super healthy.

Lemons are loaded with Vitamin C and full of limonene that’s an antioxidant.

And not only body healthy, the sunny lemon yellow is going to put anyone in a good happy mood… while brightening up tastes.

…Just ask those in the Mediterranean regions where cooking lemon into the daily diet for longevity reasons is a happy way of life.

Healthy Lemon Cookies

And so…  in search of making one happy, anti-inflammatory lemon cookie, I was inspired by using healthy oils (no butter) and more healthy, natural sugar sources that have vitamins.

…But that was waayyy before I started baking all of my own sweets including cookies (my favorite!) for consumption…

Actually, I used to play a game with myself in the cookie grocery store aisle where I would find the healthiest cookie in a package with the smallest amount of sugar for the tastiest effect.

That was how I defined high cookie value.

Those were the day before I discovered how easy it is to bake your own cookies (that’s faster than if you go to the store and back).

And if you’re trying to lower your sugar intake (that’s a good idea! 💡)  but love cookies, tart lemon is a great ingredient dimension add to cookies so the focus isn’t on sugar.

…The sour taste buds are doing a front row Radio City Rockettes happy dance with the secondary sweet buds behind. 👯

Like in this celebrational plate of healthy cookies with a strawberry lemon drizzle dessert surprise (made of Greek yogurt and buffalo mozzarella) in the middle.

plate of homemade and baked cookies including lemon cookies.
Clockwise from left to right: lemon strawberry cookie, lemon almond thyme cookie, spiced cookie

Baking in healthy ingredients is anti-inflammatory for skin and gut heath.

And making a cookie without butter or white sugar of any kind — that’s also deliciously tasty, holds together, and is crunchy (wow, that’s a mouthful!) — similar to store-bought cookies, is a dream come true! 💕 ..

And these lemon cookies with strawberries 🍓 fit the bill. They’re zesty and sweet in every way…

lemon cookies with strawberries

…Maybe that’s where zest-for-life came from?

And you can make lemon cookies like these with mostly healthy ground almond flour where you can save money by chopping your own whole almonds with a machine.

Recipe below.👇

…Or you can make a thyme-rosemary lemon cookie that’s Mediterranean-diet-lemon-and-olive oil healthy.

Since you’re using oil instead of butter for this cookie, you don’t need to refrigerate or cool the dough before rolling out as an added bonus.

For the flour for those lemon cookies, use gluten-free flour like coconut or almond flour (again).

And for the sweetness, use a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup.

Those sweet ingredients also act as binders along with the olive oil. Honey is great for moisturizing in dry, winter months and maple syrup for cooling down in hot months. But either are great year-round!

You can measure the healthy EVOO, but it’s much more fun if you look at cookie making as a new adventure like the wonder you had as a kid.  💭

…In your wonder, you can take a cup of flour and make a mound. Then, make a small well in the middle (like you would if you were making pasta) and add a tablespoon of olive oil in the well and start combining… and see what happens.

You’ll probably see that you need more oil to hold the flour together.

Try another tablespoon of EVOO. Then add a tablespoon of honey (or maple syrup).

Then add lemon zest from one lemon, and you can also add your herbs like rosemary and thyme.

Keep combining and adding a little bit more of the ingredient amount you need, like more olive oil…

Cookies are super forgiving. 😋

When the cookie dough can hold together with crumbly bits falling off, that’s when you know you will have a good cookie crunch when fully baked.

Place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of your dough, and roll out the dough (or flatten dough with the palm of your hand for imperfect cookies).

Then you can form your cookies into the shape you like by hand or cookie cutters.

Bake on 325°F on the higher baking shelf for about 12 minutes. I like to flip the cookies (from bottom to top) about 5 minutes before they’re done so they are baked more even as the bottoms get brown faster.

Lemon cookies also tend to burn quicker than darker color cookies like gingerbread cookies, another favorite for this ‘lil Miss Cookie Monster! 😋

Print

Lemon Strawberry Cookie

Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup almonds (or use almond flour)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil, solid
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • pinch of salt
  • strawberry
  • 1/4 cup bench flour

Instructions

  • Use a chopping processor machine to chop almonds to a fine almond flour or use store-bought almond flour. Combine with all ingredients except bench flour to make the cookie dough.
  • Add bench flour to your working surface and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes and add to a baking cookie sheet with a non-stick surface (Silpat or use baking spray).
  • Bake on 325°F for about 12 minutes or until sides are golden brown.