If you grew up within a stone’s throw from a really good red sauce joint, or in an old-school Italian-American neighborhood, you probably remember a wonderful dessert. It's a sort of almond-flavored gelato, almost always served in a white paper cup with a maraschino cherry on top. This is tortoni, or bisque, or biscuit tortoni. I have no idea why there are three names for this heavenly dessert, but all my life, I have heard it referred to by all three names.
Before tiramisu and cannoli became staples in Italian and Italian-American restaurants, this light and delicious almond treat was the gold-standard of desserts in the Italian American world.
Why and how exactly it fell out of fame (and flavor), I’m not sure. But it’s absolutely a classic worthy of its own exalted place in the high canon of Italian and Italian-American sweets.
And it could not be any easier to make. I love to make tortoni for larger gatherings, but it’s just as much of a showstopper for your smaller, more intimate soirees.
Simple, delicious, and elegant, it’s best prepared ahead of time (though you will need some space in your freezer), and you can serve it in whatever container you like.
Traditionally, in those old-school sauce joints, it’s served in little white paper cups. You can find similar ones online. I like to serve tortoni in white ramekins or coupe glasses. But for a crowd, my favorite way to make this is in a large springform pan, cut into generous slices.
Tortoni
4
servings20
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 package 1 Amaretti cookies, (imported, if possible, and ground, though you may want to save a few whole ones to decorate)
3 3 egg whites + 1/3 cup sugar
1 pint 1 heavy cream + 1/4 cup sugar
1 envelope 1 vanilla sugar (vanillina)
Amaretto liqueur to taste (about 3 tbsp.)
Maraschino or Amarena cherries (to decorate, optional)
Directions
- Beat egg whites with sugar till stiff peaks form (it will be kind of glossy; you’ll know you have reached stiff peaks when the beater is lifted up from the egg whites and they still stand).
- Gently move beaten egg whites to another bowl.
- Don’t worry about washing the bowl and the beaters at this point.
- Beat cream, sugar and vanilla sugar (vanillina) until soft peaks form.
- Crush your Amaretti cookies into small pieces (I like to do this in a food processor, but you can put them in a ziplock and beat with a rolling pin if you prefer; save a few whole cookies to decorate).
- Add the ground Amaretti cookies and the liquor to the cream.
- Continue to beat the cream till you reach the stiff peaks stage.
- Fold in the egg whites into the cream/amaretti mixture (do this by hand so you don’t deflate the egg whites).
- Place the tortoni in your preferred container and freeze at least 3-4 hours, or preferably overnight.
- Remove from the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.
- To decorate, top with Maraschino or Amarena cherries.
Notes
- As a general rule, whenever you’re working with egg whites, it’s imperative that the bowl and beaters be completely clean, or the egg whites won’t beat to the stiff peaks stage. So whenever I am working with egg whites (in any recipe) beating them to stiff peaks is always step #1.
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