“Life is like a box of chocolates … You never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest Gump
Date, Prune & Walnut Chocolate Truffles are something I never thought I’d make. Yet a chance FB update sighting a while ago set me on the track. And my, what a great idea.Healthy, delicious, a power house of energy and guilt free indulgence, truffles on a diet don’t get better than this!These were fun to make, and so fast track! No bake, no cook, practically no work … almost like instant gratification! I got to step one in a matter of minutes but one bite into it was like, “Ummm nice, but something was missing, not indulgent enough“. Into the fridge they went!They sat there bugging me the next morning. Thought of adding some dark chocolate to the truffles and running them in the processor again but the task of remaking the little balls bothered me! Seemed daunting for a fast track dessert.Next idea, and it turned out to be a good one. The dark couverture I had ordered reached that same morning. Melted some in the microwave and had such a great time dunking each little ball into luscious, thick, satiny melted dark chocolate.Melted ooeey gooey dark chocolate is strangely therapeutic. Is it just me? Whatever, but I really enjoyed this part and was rewarded in a while.These were GOOD! The teen loved them till the junior told her they had dates. “I don’t like them“, she declared, but soon was back digging into the bowl. ‘These are really good,” she declared. “Butter?” … the diet goes on, very conditional though!! {Note: Thank youSangeetafor the wooden board above. I ♥ it!}These make for good gifts in the festive season. They were a great addition to the Porcelain Buono Decoration Plate Silver from Urban Dazzle. It’s quite reasonably priced too. This was one of the many products I received for review which I shared when I made one bowl cocoa wholewheat almond brownies .About the truffles. They have a wonderful texture. You can play around with the combinations since both prunes and dates afford a good sticky base. Don’t like walnuts, use almonds. Don’t like nuts or are allergic to them, use dark chocolate, crystallised ginger, candied peel. Roll them in sprinkles after the dark chocolate has almost set; jazz them up if you like! Also, thank you Urban Dazzle for giving me a chance to review your Diwali range. I really love the variety and the quality of stoneware, ceramic, porcelain, drinkware and bakeware. You can see some of the range in my picture up there. I did wholewheat gingerbread men the other day and they looked so HAPPY on the platters, ornamental & ceramic.I also did a vanilla panna cotta in three flavours paired with three dessert sauces – coffee with a dark chocolate sauce, raspberry with a raspberry lime sauce, and saffron with salted caramel saffron sauce! Then did mini panna cotta in these tiny little white ceramic bowls, three on a plate {The honeycomb plate is from a set my sis sent me from the US. White love!}The bowls are really versatile. Dipping sauces look great served with them. Else a good extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and queen olives with a sour dough bread served on a matching Mediterranean inspired ceramic platter! So much inspiration …
[print_this]Recipe: Date & Prune Chocolate Truffles
Summary: Healthy, delicious, a power house of energy and guilt free indulgence, truffles on a diet can’t get better than this!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutesIngredients:
Truffles
100g dates {seedless}
100g sundried prunes
100g walnuts
20g cocoa powder {3 tbsp}
15g extra virgin olive oil {1tbsp}
Chocolate coating
100g good quality dark chocolate melted {I used a 53%}
Method:
Truffles
Place dates, prunes and walnuts in bowl of processor and process for a minute or so until everything gets chopped fine. Taste and adjust sweetness if required adding more dates or prunes. {Thermomix: Speed 8, 30 seconds, repeat if necessary}
Add the cocoa powder and olive oil and process briefly to mix. {Thermomix: Speed 8, 20 seconds}
Roll into bite sized balls packing firmly.
Dip into the melted chocolate and leave to set on a parchment lined tray in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
I once saw something similar… but instead of prunes.. I think they were figs!!!! Absolutely lovely.. and so easy and fast.. think I will make a batch for dussera!!
Such easy breezy recipe. I am going to make this for my post work out snack. I hate prunes. Can I replace it with anything else? Raisins? Dried cranberry?
Oooh! You just made it better 🙂 I love the date truffles because just the thought of having no sugar in it makes me love it. But if I am making it for others then I’ll definitely make it this way 🙂
These are nice n healthy..I tweaked one of the brownie recipes(smitten kitchen I think) last month and baked whole wheat- almond meal brownies and then took some , moistened them with gancahe, rooled into balls and then dipped in molten chocolate..:D
They were so good my fiend said she would have bought them from me , if I had put them on sale…:D
Will try these too…although I am scare my son will reject them outright..:(
That sounds like a great idea Manjeet. Must have been truly yum! You can make half a batch, or probably reduce the fruit and add some chocolate into them, like a ganache. He’s a naughty looking fellow, your little one!
Raisins and Cashew I have tried and loved in Truffles. This combination I love otherwise, You give so many great ideas 🙂
Lovely beautiful pictures to make one feel delighted 🙂
Deeba, these are so beautiful! And gosh I want to bite into one now. These would make fabulous, perfect holiday treats to serve and give as gifts. I will definitely try these and share with my own readers. Beautiful!
21 Comments
Anamika| Madcookingfusions
Absolutely delishhh Deeba….I love prunes dates & walnut combo !!!
Rosa
Divine! Those truffles are wonderful. I love that filling.
Cheers,
Rosa
Himanshu @ The White Ramekins
lusciously divine they are !!! good for gifts during festival season. Will try them soon.
Sarvani @ baker in disguise
I once saw something similar… but instead of prunes.. I think they were figs!!!! Absolutely lovely.. and so easy and fast.. think I will make a batch for dussera!!
Grishma @Zaikazabardast
Deeba, really amazing way to use up Prunes 🙂 I normally use dates and figs but now Prunes are on the list! Thanks
Vijitha
Such easy breezy recipe. I am going to make this for my post work out snack. I hate prunes. Can I replace it with anything else? Raisins? Dried cranberry?
Deeba @ PAB
You must be like my son Vijitha. He can’t stand prunes. Try figs or raisins. Anything with a bit of moisture would work fine. Tell me how it goes!!
indugetscooking
Provides a quick and yummy chocolate fix. Like it that the truffle uses a chocolate coating instead of cocoa powder coating.
Deeba @ PAB
TY Indu. I did a few with a dusting of cocoa but a strange bitterness came through.
chinmayie @ love food eat
Oooh! You just made it better 🙂 I love the date truffles because just the thought of having no sugar in it makes me love it. But if I am making it for others then I’ll definitely make it this way 🙂
manjeet
Hey Deeba,
These are nice n healthy..I tweaked one of the brownie recipes(smitten kitchen I think) last month and baked whole wheat- almond meal brownies and then took some , moistened them with gancahe, rooled into balls and then dipped in molten chocolate..:D
They were so good my fiend said she would have bought them from me , if I had put them on sale…:D
Will try these too…although I am scare my son will reject them outright..:(
Luv,
Manjeet
Deeba @ PAB
That sounds like a great idea Manjeet. Must have been truly yum! You can make half a batch, or probably reduce the fruit and add some chocolate into them, like a ganache. He’s a naughty looking fellow, your little one!
sangeeta khanna
Raisins and Cashew I have tried and loved in Truffles. This combination I love otherwise, You give so many great ideas 🙂
Lovely beautiful pictures to make one feel delighted 🙂
veena
Super healthy and nice recipe.. Really love it
great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com
Jamie
Deeba, these are so beautiful! And gosh I want to bite into one now. These would make fabulous, perfect holiday treats to serve and give as gifts. I will definitely try these and share with my own readers. Beautiful!
Priya
Am speechless and cant take my eyes from ur clicks,mindblowing truffles..
Francesca
It was a perfect kind of treats this holiday season…This one also is good for a gift to your friends…Thanks for the recipe on how to do this..
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
Oh I agree, melted chocolate has an immense therapeutic effect, even more so when ingested. 😉
Lakshmi
Just made these now…thanks a ton for this rcp…