Raw cherry ripe slices and bounty bars

I have been increasingly interested in raw desserts and slices lately, and have been searching for recipes. One lovely blog which I've been following is Live Love Eat Raw. On her blog, Sharlene shares her raw food recipes.

I've made a few of her recipes, and two favourites so far are the raw cherry ripe slice and the raw bounty slice.

The recipe for the raw cherry ripe slice can be found HERE. I used frozen sour cherries, which gave the cherry ripe slice a refreshing tartness. The tartness is deliciously complimented by the slight sweetness of the dates and raw cacao base and the raw cacao and coconut oil topping.

The recipe for the raw bounty bars can be found HERE. The bounty bars have a creamy texture with a yummy vanilla coconuty flavour encased between the date, coconut and almond meal base and the raw cacao and coconut oil topping.

I keep the slices in the freezer, taking them out for a few minutes prior to eating so they can soften slightly. They'd make a perfect treat for Easter next week!

Thanks for visiting...

Cheers

Fiona x

raw Kahlua and walnut truffles

Here's another truffle recipe I've made recently. These are similar to the Rum and Raisin Balls, with no added sugar (except the sugar that's in the Kahlua).

Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 cup hazelnut meal
• 1/4 cup chia bran (I use The Chia Co chia bran)
• 8 tablespoons raw cacao powder (I use Power Super Foods raw cacao)
• 6 tablespoons raw coconut oil (I use Niugini Organics coconut oil)
• 4 tablespoons rice malt syrup (or to your taste)
• 80mls Kahlua
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 2/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 70% dark chocolate, grated for coating the balls OR extra chopped walnuts OR both

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the dry ingredients (almond meal, hazelnut meal, chia bran, cacao powder, desicated coconut) into a food processor. Blend until ingredients look combined.

Add rice malt syrup and Kahlua, then the coconut oil. Make sure the coconut oil is soft, (in cold climates you may need to soften it prior to adding to the food processor).

Put the mixture into a bowl and mix through the chopped walnuts. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge to cool.

The mixture may separate a little. This is the reason I put it in the fridge to cool. You may find the coconut oil sets around the mixture. Just stir this through again before you start rolling.

Roll into small balls. I used a 1/2 tablespoon to measure the balls out. Roll the balls around in a bowl of grated dark chocolate or the chopped walnuts. You will find them quite sticky, the heat of your hands will melt the coconut oil a bit, but this helps the chocolate to stick to your rum balls.

Place them into the freezer until you are ready to eat them or package them up to give them away.

Hope you enjoy them...  If you like the sound of these, you might also like the rum and raisin balls I made at the end of last year.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Fiona x

 

rum balls recipe

I have started many posts on this blog with "as a kid I loved making...."

Well today it's .... rum balls.

For many Christmas's I made rum balls, sweet and chocolatey rum balls flavoured with good old OP rum! They were made up of icing sugar, cocoa, copha, sultanas and rum. Made into little round balls and rolled in desiccated coconut. And I used to consume them in the masses (even though I was under legal drinking age for most of the years I made them). 

Forward many, many.... many years...

This year I decided to re-invent the rum balls. Of recent years, I've attempted to reduce the amount of sugar (fructose) that we consume, so the thought of making my old rum balls was not an option.

I started looking around for recipes, experimented with my own ideas, and three attempts later, I came up with these. Now I know they are not completely "sugar-free" with the raisins and rum, but they are a whole lot healthier than my old childhood version!

Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup raisins (or sultanas if you prefer)
• 40ml rum

• 2 cups almond meal
• 1/4 cup chia bran (I use The Chia Co chia bran)
• 6-8 tablespoons raw cacao powder** (I use Power Super Foods raw cacao)
• 10 tablespoons raw coconut oil (I use Niugini Organics coconut oil)
• 4 tablespoons rice malt syrup (or to your taste)
• 40mls rum (extra to the soaking rum above)
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• zest from 1 orange
• PLUS the rum soaked raisins
• EXTRA coconut for rolling the rum balls in

[** 6 tablespoons of raw cacao powder gives a nice chocolatey flavour, the 8 tablespoons of cacao powder gives a richer dark chocolate flavoured rum ball. The choice is yours, experiment with the amounts.]

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the sultanas in the 40mls of rum for at least 24 hours. The raisins will plump up and most of the rum will be absorbed by the raisins.

[24 hours later]

Place the dry ingredients (almond meal, chia bran, cacao powder, desicated coconut) into a food processor. Blend until ingredients look combined.

Add rice malt syrup and orange zest, then rum, then the coconut oil. If the coconut oil is soft, you won't need to melt it.

Put the mixture into a bowl and mix through the rum soaked raisins. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge to cool.

The mixture may separate a little. This is the reason I put it in the fridge to cool. You will find the coconut oil may set around the mixture. Just stir this through again before you start rolling.

Roll into small balls. I used a 1/2 tablespoon to measure the balls out. Roll the balls around in a bowl of desiccated coconut. You will find them quite sticky, the heat of your hands will melt the coconut oil a bit, but this helps the desiccated coconut to stick to your rum balls.

Place them into the freezer until you are ready to eat them or package them up to give them away.

In the Australian summer, they need to be kept in the fridge at least. I quite like eating them from the freezer :)

Hope you enjoy them... I'm now working on a Kahlua and walnut truffle/ball recipe. I will be back if they are successful with another recipe.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Fiona x