Gluten free- wheat free- dairy free- egg free- nut free- may contain sugar.
In the spirit of Christmas (read: over-consumption of irresistible festive treats), I thought I'd add to your joy and share some easy to make, easier to consume, little balls of smooth chocolatey goodness. They're great to hand around for pre-lunch nibbles, or as the perfect mouthful to compliment your -after-dinner-I've-eaten-way-too-much-but-I-can't-say-no-cup-of-coffee. Of course, they're also perfect any time of year! It's quite the coup to find completely dairy free, rich, chocolatey anything. If you use 70% cocoa chocolate that is dairy free and you use a dairy-free spread rather than butter, you have yourself a dairy-free truffle. Now, I hasten to add, I do not encourage the use of margarine type spreads. The processed vegetable oil is simply not good for you, but if you cannot eat butter, you may enjoy this as an occasional treat. To be truly refined sugar free, you will have to use a naturally sweetened chocolate. Get creative with your flavourings. I've added a couple of suggestions in the recipe. This year I've gone with mint. {This recipe is based on one from Pig in the Kitchen.} INGREDIENTS
Variations:
METHOD Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl over a saucepan of shallow boiling water. Do not allow the water to touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the water and chocolate together in the bowl as it melts. Remove from heat and add the dairy-free spread. Whisk together to form a smooth paste. Add the liqueur of choice (and rind if using), and sweetener of choice. Adjust flavourings to taste. Fill the sink with ice-cold water (put ice cubes in the water) so that the water reaches half way up the outside of the bowl containing the chocolate. With the bowl in the water, whisk vigorously. You can use a hand whisk or an electric beater (obviously this will be quicker). As the mixture cools it will become lighter and fluffy. After 5-10 minutes (depending on what you're using to whisk and funnily enough, the type of chocolate you use), the mixture suddenly thickens and becomes quite stiff. Persist till then!! Chill in the fridge for at least an hour. To mold it, it needs to still be a little soft. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Sieve the cocoa powder into a bowl. Take teaspoons of the mix and roll to form a ball. Roll in the cocoa powder till covered and pick up with small tongs to place on the lined tray. Refrigerate again in an airtight container until ready to eat. VARIATION: To take them to an even more decadent level, you can case them in chocolate: Melt another 200g of chocolate as described previously. Cool it slightly then drop each of the cocoa-dusted balls into the melted chocolate. Use a spoon to ladle extra chocolate on parts not covered. Place balls on a lined baking tray and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Comments are closed.
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