This week WE-AR making nourishing organic treats to share with friends and family for the long weekend ahead.
These salted caramel truffles by our friends Little Bird Organics look like mini eggs and are made from a few simple wholefoods ingredients that get thrown in the food processor and result in a delicious sticky caramel truffle! We hope you enjoy making them tribe and have a very happy and safe Easter.
Make time 10 min
Makes 16 large truffles
Truffle Filling
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups macadamias
1 cup medjool dates pitted (or other soft caramel tasting dates)
3-4 tablespoons organic maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp of sea salt
Finishing Touches
1/2 cup raw chocolate melted (you can make your own see my recipe below or melt down a block of good dark raw chocolate)
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
Method
Place 1 cup of the macadamias in your food processor or blender and blend until they are smooth and creamy (as they blend they will start to release their oils and change from being a flour to a smooth and buttery consistency).
Add the dates, vanilla and sea salt and blend into a thick smooth paste. Next add the maple syrup and blend for a few seconds until its combined.
Give the mixture a taste test and see if it needs more salt – add to the level that meets your desired salted caramel level. Keeping in mind you will be garnishing with some flaky sea salt.
Line a small tray or plate (something that fits in the freezer) with baking paper to put your truffles on. Then take a heaping teaspoon of the mixture and place one of the whole macadamias in the centre and with your hands roll into a ball - you’re wanting to encapsulate the macadamia in the caramel. This mixture can be really sticky depending on your dates - I wet my hands lightly a few times while rolling them to prevent the mixture form sticking to my hands.
Place the rolled truffles on your baking paper lined tray and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Once you've rolled all your truffles place in the freezer for half an hour to chill and firm up.
Make or melt your raw chocolate in a small bowl.
Take a fork and dip each of your truffles in the melted chocolate allowing the chocolate to drip off for a few seconds before placing them back on the backing paper lined tray. (If your truffles were really sticky in the first round you might need to refresh the baking paper) continue until you have finished dipping all the truffles.
Sprinkle the freshly dipped truffles with a few pitches of the flaky sea salt and place them in the fridge for 5-10 mins for the chocolate to set.
Take them out and roll the in the cacao powder and sprinkle with a little extra flaky sea salt for looks.
Ideally serve straight from the fridge or freezer.
Will store in the fridge or freezer for several months.
Raw Chocolate
This will make a little extra chocolate that you need for the truffles, you can store left over chocolate in a jar in the fridge to melt down again for your next batch or simply want to eat it.
1/3 cup cacao butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup cacao powder
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
To prepare the chocolate: Firstly melt the cacao butter and coconut oil by placing them in a dry mixing bowl and sitting that bowl on top of another bowl that’s been partially filled with almost boiling water. Be very careful not to let any water get in your bowl.
You may need to add more hot water to your water bowl if it cools down.
Now add sweetener to the butter and oil whilst still over the warm water and mix together gently, then add the cacao powder, salt and vanilla and mix again.
Keep stirring gently until the mixture is well combined, you will need to mix for at least 10 minutes. The temperature should remain around 41°C while mixing to ensure a smooth, consistent chocolate that won’t separate.
While this chocolate won’t temper, it still benefits from a slow reduction of temperature.
To do this place some ice in a bowl with water and make a cooling version of the double boiler.
Place your bowl in the ice water and stir continuously for approximately 1−2 minutes to reduce to around body temperature. (You can test this by placing some under your lip area on your chin, the chocolate should not feel warm or cold).
Notes
- If you don't have macadamias you could substitute them for cashews - if you do that add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil to the recipe to keep it creamy.
- You could also substitute 1 cup of the macadamias for 1/3 cup of nut butter if you don't have a string food processor or blender.
- You can double dip in the chocolate to give a thicker stronger chocolate coating.