While Rose may not agree, I believe truffles can be made without rum (or rom, as the case may be), and are perfectly tasty without it. I lean toward coffee, but orange juice or chai tea would be lovely too. You might also want to change up some of the other flavours to go with your liquid of choice – dates might be nice with coffee, or perhaps swap the coconut for ground almonds, the raisins for apricots, and the rum for orange juice. It’s up to you!
- 60 g / 1/3 cup raisins, roughly chopped
- 60 mL / ¼ cup rum or other liquid
- 200 g / 7 oz chocolate-coated wheaten biscuits (I use dark chocolate digestives)
- 100 g / 1 cup desiccated/shredded coconut, plus extra for rolling
- 250 g / just under 9 oz dark chocolate
- 100 g / ½ cup soft light brown sugar
- 60 mL / ¼ cup cream
- 60 mL / ¼ cup golden syrup
Marinate the raisins in the rum for about an hour.
Crush the biscuits, either in a food processor or by hand, until they’re down to reasonably fine crumbs (you can fortify yourself during this strenuous activity by eating the leftover biscuits from the packet)) Mix the coconut in.
Melt the chocolate, brown sugar, cream, and golden syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a low heat, stirring gently now and then. Don’t over-heat it, and don’t worry about getting it too smooth – there’ll be some sugar crystals remaining, but you won’t notice them once everything else is in.
Add the chocolate mix and the raisin mix to the biscuits and coconut, and stir well to combine. Then refrigerate until it’s still soft enough to handle, but firm enough to roll into balls (I never time this right. I usually end up hacking bits off and warming them in my hands until they’re roll-able).
Roll roughly table-spoon sized scoops into balls, then roll in the extra coconut to coat. This is messy. Enjoy it.
Pop in the freezer to set and store – the flavours blend and mellow, so try and make them at least a week ahead of when you’re planning to need them. They make great gifts – they don’t melt, just soften a little, so you can put some in a jar and festoon with pretty ribbons, and it’ll be fine to take to a friend’s house. That is, if you haven’t eaten them all. It’s amazing how often I find myself in the freezer once I’ve made a batch …
Makes … well, 30-ish. It depends how big you roll them and how often you check the mix.
A Toot Hansell Christmas Cracker recipe collection:
- Christmas Pudding Cupcakes
- Homity Pies
- Amaretti Espresso Biscuits
- Christmas Breakfast Muffins
- Welsh Rarebit
- Cranberry, Wensleydale & Walnut No-Knead Bread
- Yorkshire Puddings
- Mulled Apple Juice
- Dragon-Friendly Mincemeat
- Mincemeat Sticky Buns
- Almond, Orange, & Cranberry Cake