“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.
