Tag Archives: chocolate truffle

A host of Easter Treats

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With Easter upon us I thought I’d share a few of my favourite, slightly healthier but equally yummy Easter recipes.

So if chocolate is your thing then why not try some quick, raw chocolates like these chocolate coconut treats, or the raw chocolate filled eggs and fruit eggs, or if you fancy something with a little more kick – why not try the chilli chocs.

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Or how about whipping up some quick, cute, marzipan bunnies!

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What about creating a quick batch of Easter spiced biscuits, or some fresh, light lemon and chia cookies to dunk in your afternoon tea on Easter Sunday.

If you’re feeling adventurous you could try my coffee and amaretto cupcakes (using any instant coffee you have to hand).

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And finally..it wouldn’t be Easter without some hot cross buns right? Try my better bun recipe for some hot cross fun! 🙂

Happy Easter! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

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Homemade healthy coconut “bounty” bars! Dairy and Gluten-free

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I made these a while ago but totally forgot to put the recipe up! Bad Nancy!

These are delish – a great alternative to a traditional “Bounty” bar and FAR healthier! They’re made with raw chocolate so they’re full of antioxidants and the coconut centre is pure coconut, nothing else!

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You will need some sort of mould for this – it can be any shape and any size you like! I’ve gone for a rectangular one as I happened to have one in my cupboard but anything will do.

For the chocolate you will need:

1 cup Cacao butter (melted)

1 cup Raw Cocoa powder

1/3 Cup Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)

For the filling you will need:

A few tbsp desiccated Coconut (adjust quantity to taste)

Coconut butter – the amount will depend on the size of your chocs so start with a small amount and it’s easy to make more as needed. You need to make sure you use a whole coconut flesh butter, rather than coconut oil. I used the Artisana brand.

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Start with the chocolate. Mix the cacao butter, cocoa and maple syrup together and ensure there are no lumps. Pour a small amount in to the mould – remember you are filling this so don’t fill the mould – probably aim for a third of the mould. Save enough to cover the filling later. You will probably find that it settles at the bottom leaving the sides with only a very thing layer. This is ok – just pop it in the fridge for now. After about 5 mins check it and as it’s beginning to solidify just swirl the mould around so the chocolate coats the sides too. Place back in the fridge until set hard (15 mins should do it).

Now prepare the filling. Just melt the coconut butter gently in a warm pan, stirring all the time. Add as much desicated coconut as you want to get the desired texture and then pour in to the chilled moulds. Place back in the fridge immediately until this has set (at least 15 mins)

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Cover the top with more of your raw chocolate mix (you may need to re-warm it if it’s started to set). Pop straight back in the fridge until properly set – 30 mins or more.

These are best kept in the fridge until you want to eat them and then remove them and allow them to warm very slightly at room temperature for a few mins before serving. I made my chocolate layers just a little bit thick… but I quite like that! 🙂

Enjoy!

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Guilt-free Chocolate cake (with beetroot!)

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You can’t beat a good chocolate cake and this is definitely a good chocolate cake! It’s totally vegan and totally yummy! This was inspired by a delicious cake my friend Vicky made so I thought I’d have a go at veganising and gluten-freeing it! 🙂

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You will need:

250g cooked Beetroot

250g unrefined Raw sugar (coconut palm sugar etc)

190g self-raising gluten free Flour

60g raw Cacao powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

3 tbsp Chia seeds soaked in 9 tbsp water

180 ml Almond oil (or other non flavoured oil)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Chocolate extract (or extra Vanilla if you don’t have this)

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Preheat the oven to 170 C. Lightly grease a 23 cm diameter cake tine.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cacoa and bicarbonate of soda. Then stir in the sugar.  Pop the cooked beetroot in to a food processor and blend until smooth. Place this in to a sieve over another bowl and push out any juices with the back of a spoon. You don’t need the juice for this recipe but don’t bin it – you can throw it in to a smoothie 🙂

Put the beetroot pulp back in to the processor and then turn on the motor and add the soaked chia seeds, vanilla and chocolate extract (if using) and then slowly pour in the oil.

Mix until well blended. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and add the beetroot mixture. Gently fold together with a large spoon. Pour the mixture in to the cake tin and place in the oven for 35 -40 mins (or until a skewer comes out clean). Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 – 10 mins in the tin, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

Then enjoy with a cup of tea (and maybe a cat)! 🙂

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Fruity Raw Chocs

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As you’ll know from my recent raw choc recipes (see here and here) I’ve been having loads of fun playing around with my raw choc and raw white choc recipes, and my collection of freeze-dried fruit powders. The results were awesome!

The fruit powders work brilliantly with both the dark and white raw choc and they add an amazing tartness and freshness to the chocs. They also make the white chocs look very pretty 🙂 (I get my fruit powders online from here)

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You can make solid chocs of one flavour or you can use the flavoured white chocolate to add colour and patterns to dark chocs. They come out looking amazing! If you are very clever (and more patient than I am 😉 ) you can add different colours to different parts of your mould to highlight certain details 🙂 The world is your chocolate box! Warning though – if you’re anything like me your entire kitchen will be covered in raw choc when you’re done! Is it wrong that I considered licking it up to clean it….. (don’t judge me 😉 )

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Now I couldn’t decide which of my freeze-dried fruit powders to use so I used them all (separately!). I think my favourite were raspberry, passion fruit and cranberry – I love the tartness of them 🙂

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So all you need for the dark chocs is:

1 cup Cacao butter (melted)

1 cup Raw Cocoa powder

1/3 Cup Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)

Freeze-dried fruit powder of your choice – approx 1 tsp – adjust to taste

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For the white choc you need:

1/4 cup melted Cacao butter

1 tbsp Cashew butter

1 tsp dry dairy-free milk powder – rice, coconut or soya milk powder (This is optional but it makes the chocolate creamier so is worth it if you can find it)

1 tbsp unrefined raw Icing sugar (adjust to taste)

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Freeze-dried fruit powder of your choice – approx 1 tsp – adjust to taste

The method is the same for both – melt the cacao butter and then stir in all the other ingredients. Mix well.

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Now for the fun! and mess…. You can do whatever you like! I made a load of small quantities of chocolate of various flavours. Then I filled some moulds full of that flavour which worked well.   Then I had some fun….. either carefully dribbling one flavour in to the mould or liberally splashing it around to create a beautiful marble effect. Splash one flavour at a time, then pop in the fridge to set before doing the next.

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Place in the fridge between each one until you’re finished. Allow to set properly in the fridge and store in there until you want to eat them!

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Dairy Free Raw White Chocolate!

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I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. White chocolate is one thing that’s pretty hard to come by if you’re trying to avoid dairy so I wanted to come up with an easy to make alternative and I think I’ve found it!

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I made some plain white choc ones, some mixed with dark raw choc and for some I added some freeze-dried raspberry powder to give a yummy raspberry choc!

If you have some interesting chocolate or ice moulds you can have some fun with a mix of white and dark raw chocolate (see recipe for raw chocolate here)

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You will need:

1/4 cup melted Cacao butter

1 tbsp Cashew butter

1 tsp dry dairy-free milk powder – rice, coconut or soya milk powder (This is optional but it makes the chocolate creamier so is worth it if you can find it)

1 tbsp unrefined raw Icing sugar (adjust to taste)

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Optional – (Freeze-dried raspberry powder – approx 1 tsp – adjust to taste)

Melt the Cacao butter and then stir in all the other ingredients. Mix well and then pour in to moulds. Pop in the fridge until set. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Coconut Treats

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This is a super simple Easter recipe for some yummy little melt in the mouth coconut chocolate bites. In fact it’s not really a recipe at all it’s so simple! 🙂

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All you need is some of this wonderful stuff – Artisana Cacao Bliss. It’s just chocolate coconut butter, made from coconut flesh (not the coconut oil).

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If you can’t find this then you can use the normal Artisana Coconut Butter and just add raw cocoa powder to it (to taste).

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All you need to do is melt the coconut butter in a pan on a very low heat. I like this just the way it is but if it isn’t sweet enough for you then you can add some maple syrup to taste. Once it’s melted all you need to do is pour in to moulds – egg shaped or otherwise! Pop in the fridge for 20 mins to set. If you’re doing eggs remove from the fridge and mould. Warm the back of the eggs using a hair dryer or a warmed spoon just to melt it slightly, then press 2 halves together. Place back in the fridge for a few mins.

Enjoy!

Raw Chocolate filled eggs and fruity eggs

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Well… it is Easter… and I happen to know someone who loves raw chocolate so it gave me the perfect excuse to  whip up a batch of raw chocolate eggs.

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I fancied having a bit of a play with all the exciting things in my cupboard – peanut butter, pecan butter, coconut butter, freeze dried passion fruit powder, freeze dried cherry powder, freeze dried cherries, freeze dried raspberries so decided I’d make a batch of medium filled eggs and some little mini fruity eggs!

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You will need:

1 cup Cacao butter (melted)

1 cup Raw Cocoa powder

1/3 Cup Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetner)

A selection of fun things to fill or flavour them with! Your choice – nut butters, coconut butter (this isn’t the same as coconut oil – I use the Artisana brand – available online), freeze dried fruits etc.

Egg moulds (or any other shape!)

Filled eggs

Mix the cacao butter, cocoa and maple syrup together and ensure there are no lumps. Pour a small amount in to the egg mould – you are filling your eggs so don’t fill the mould – probably aim for a third of the mould. You will probably find that it settles at the bottom leaving the sides with only a very thing layer. This is ok – just pop it in the fridge for now. After about 5 mins check it and as it’s beginning to solidify just swirl the mould around so the chocolate coats the sides too. Place back in the fridge until set hard (15 mins should do it).

Add your filling

If you’re using nut butter then add a tsp or two and you can then sprinkle in some freeze dried fruit if you fancy it (raspberries work well with peanut butter).  Remember to do an even number of each filling (unless you want eggs half one flavour, half another).

If you’re using the coconut butter use a whole coconut flesh butter, rather than coconut oil. I used the Artisana brand.

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It’s easier to work with if you melt it very gently in a pan – just until it’s runny and then just pour it in to the eggs and pop straight in to the fridge.

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Once the filling has set, cover with a layer of chocolate. You don’t have to do this but it makes it much easier to join halves later in a relatively neat way!

Allow to set in the fridge until really well set (at least 15 mins).

Put your halves together!

Pop your eggs out the mould and then you can either use a small amount of melted raw chocolate to sandwich them together, or you can use a hair dryer on a low heat to very gently melt the back of the eggs (be super careful as raw choc has a very low melting point so handle the eggs as little as poss and be gentle with the hair dryer). Once melted press the halves together and pop back in the fridge!

Then eat!

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Fruity eggs

Take your raw choc mix and stir in to it your freeze dried fruit or fruit powder of choice. I split my mixture and in one half I added 1 tbsp freeze dried cherry powder and a handful of crushed freeze dried cherry slices. In the other half I added 1 tbsp freeze dried passion fruit powder and a handful of freeze dried mango pieces. Mix well and then pour in to your egg or whatever shape moulds.

If you want you can add a little powdered or crushed freeze dried fruit to the mould before you add the chocolate  – it makes the eggs look pretty 🙂

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Pop in the fridge for at least 15 mins. Remove and stick the halves together with a little melted raw choc or using a hair dryer to melt the backs a little as before.

Enjoy! 🙂

 

Raspberry Raw Chocs

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These beautiful raw chocolates are fantastically easy to make and taste delicious. They’d make a perfect gift too (if you don’t eat them all first 😉 ).

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You can flavour them with anything you like but I’m a big fan of raspberry and chocolate and when I found the freeze-dried raspberries online (Amazon sell them) and thought they’d be a great addition to these chocs.

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You will need (makes approx 15 chocs):

1 cup Cacao butter (melted)

1 cup Raw Cacao powder

1/3 cup Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)

1 cup Freeze-dried raspberries

2- 3 tbsps Freeze-dried raspberry powder (you can buy them powdered or you can simply grind up the whole raspberries)

Melt the cacao butter and mix it with the cacao powder and maple syrup. Use a small whisk or fork to mix the ingredients well. Add in the raspberry powder and mix well. Lightly crush the whole raspberries into smaller pieces and then stir them in.

Pour in to chocolate moulds and leave in the freezer to set. Enjoy! 🙂

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Raw chocolate covered marzipan snowballs!

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I had some left over marzipan and wanted to create a little treat for after dinner on christmas day so I thought I’d make some raw choc covered marzipan snowballs 🙂

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I used this marzipan recipe from my christmas cake post and for the chocolate you need:

35g Cacao butter

25g Raw Cacao powder

Sweet freedom to sweeten (up to 1/2 tbsp)

Extra raw cacao powder and dessicated coconut for decoration. Maybe some edible glitter too 🙂

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Grate the cacao butter into a small bowl and then place over a saucepan of water (bain marie). Heat the water gently and allow the butter to melt. Once melted whisk the cacao powder in with a small balloon whisk or fork. When thoroughly combined remove from the heat and stir in the sweet freedom. I like my chocolate quite bitter for this recipe so I only added a small squirt but add as much as you need 🙂

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Put some raw cacao powder in a small bowl and the dessicated coconut in another bowl.

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Roll the marzipan in to small balls and line up your bowls of chocolate, cacao powder and dessicated coconut. Drop the marzipan into the choc and used a fork to gently move around until covered. Then, if you’re using it, drop the ball into the bowl of cacao powder or dessicated coconut and gently shake it around to cover it. Remove and place on greaseproof paper. When they’re all covered pop in the fridge to set. This choc has a very low melting point so keep in the fridge until you want to serve. Enjoy! 🙂

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Chocolate Buckwheat Crispies – gluten and dairy free

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This will probably be my last ‘baking’ blog for a while as I’m now in Indonesia for 2 months working on my primate conservation project (to find out what I’m doing check out www.nancypriston.com). There may be some food posts but I definitely won’t be cake making! 🙂 I meant to post his before I left but ran out of time, so here goes!

I’ve been having a play with buckwheat lately! I haven’t had much success cooking it so was looking for other ways to use it. My friend Colette gave me a recipe for making buckwheat crunchies so I thought I’d use them in a chocolate-based snack recipe! I’m pleasantly surprised with the results! I’m still not too sure about the buckwheat but so far it’s the best I’ve come up with!

It’s fairly straightforward but first off you need to make your buckwheat crunchies. Purchase some raw buckwheat groats (grains/kernels/whatever they’re called!) from the local health food store. You need to soak these over night – use 3 times as much water as buckwheat. Rinse really well in the morning and drain. Then spread them out on greaseproof paper and either pop them in your dehydrator if you have one, or in the oven on low heat. They will need a couple of hours. When they’re done they will be crispy and crunchy.

You can eat these as they are (in fact I quite like them sprinkled on fruit and soya yoghurt for brekkie to give some crunch) but you can also use them to create these yummy chocolate treats!

I made two versions:

Chocolate topped crispie

1/2 cup Coconut butter (you need the proper butter, not the oil – you can get it here. Nb other brands call themselves butter but are actually the oil – you need one that uses the coconut flesh)

1/2 cup raw Cacao powder

2 cups Buckwheat crunchies

1/4 cup Cacao nibs

1/8 cup Chia seeds

squirt of Sweet freedom (adjust to taste)

For the topping:

equal quantities of cacao powder and coconut butter (to make enough to cover the crispies to whatever depth you want!)

squirt of sweet freedom (adjust to taste)

Gently melt the coconut butter in the microwave or in a pan until it is runny. Mix all the ingredients in together and stir well. Line a tin or tupperware box with greaseproof paper and push the mixture in to it to the desired thickness. Then in another bowl melt the coconut butter for the topping and mix with the cocoa powder and sweet freedom. Pour on to the top. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Almond Cherry Chocolate Crunchies

1 cup Buckwheat crunchies
1 cup raw Cacao powder
1 cup soaked Almonds (soak in water for as long as you gave time for – ideally overnight)
1/2 – 1 cup Coconut butter (not oil)
1/4 Sweet freedom (or less – to taste)
2 tbsp Pure protein powder (vanilla)
1/2 cup dried Cherries/cranberries/goji berries

Once you have the buckwheat crunches and soaked almonds ready it only takes a few minutes to make these. First blitz the almonds in a food processor – just a few pulses to chop them up a bit and place to one side. Then gently melt the coconut butter and add the cacao powder and sweet freedom. Mix to a paste and stir in the protein powder, buckwheat and almonds, finally gently stir in whatever fruit you are using. Line a tin or tupperware box with greaseproof paper and push the mixture in to it to the desired thickness. If you find the mixture isn’t holding together melt a little more coconut butter and pour over the top. Chill for 30 mins then slice and enjoy!

🙂