Truffles (Dairy Free)

I recently found a dairy-free chocolate truffles recipe in The New InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook.Rather than having to melt chocolate and heat cream, these are quickly and easily made in a food processor. My only issue is that the recipe calls for almond pie filling. I assume they mean almond paste, right? I haven't been able to find almond pie filling anywhere.

I made two batches, one with hazelnuts and the other using almonds. They both turned out yummy, and the taste difference is pretty slight. Even when using hazelnuts the almond extract and paste still give these an almond flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole almonds or hazelnuts, toasted (hazelnuts pictured)
4 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon almond pie filling (no clue, so I used almond paste)
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (I just dumped it in with the liqueur)
1 tablespoon strong hot coffee (which is not pictured below as it wasn't yet made)
1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur

Toast the nuts and allow them to cool, then chop them in a food processor until coarsely ground. Remove half and set aside. Add the chocolate to remaining nuts and process until finely ground. Add the almond paste and extract, and process until the mixture starts to come together.

Add the coffee and booze while the food processor motor is running, and process until the mixture becomes slightly thinner and smoother. This mixture will need to chill in the refrigerator for an hour firm up.

  

Then, just roll it into balls, dredge them in the ground nuts, and they're ready to eat. Here is where having colds hands is helpful. I also dredged some of these in cocoa powder, but I ate all of those before I got around to taking pictures of the finished truffles. Also, I apologize for not having any pictures of the assembly process.

 

Inside their texture isn't quite as creamy as traditional truffles, but it's still pretty smooth. Keep these in the refrigerator, but don't plan on them lasting long.

I also made a Chocolate Torte Dressed in Berries from The New Intercourses, and it turned out delicious as well. The whole idea behind this cookbook is that the recipes all contain aphrodisiac ingredients. While there are some lovely pictures in it, none of the photos are of the finished recipes. I don't know why. I kind of like to know what I'm going for when making a new recipe. But, I've been very happy with the recipes I've tried so far.

Baked Oatmeal Redux

Sometime last year, I posted a recipe for vegan baked oatmeal. This is easily one of my favorite things to have on hand because it's so versatile and can be enjoyed year-round. I make it in the summer when we have freshly picked blueberries, but it works equally well with frozen.

The only trouble is that the original recipe was rather long and involved--not that I wasn't well rewarded for my efforts, but it's nice to have some quick and easy recipes for things I find myself making on a regular basis. Well! Recently I saw a revamped version of the baked oatmeal recipe that's also vegan, dairy-free, and can be made gluten free, only this recipe is much easier and replaces the sugar with maple syrup. Also, the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of peaches and 1/2 cup blueberries, but I use a cup of blueberries because I typically have other plans for my peaches. This version is a bit sweeter than the original recipe, so you may want to scale back the amount of maple syrup.

Baked Oatmeal Redux:

3 cups quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons finely ground almonds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 2/3 cup almond milk
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen this time because that's what I had)

Before you do anything, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray, and assemble the ingredients. Mise en place, s'il vous plait.

In a large bowl, combine oats, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. I also added some freshly grated nutmeg. I love freshly grated nutmeg.

In a separate bowl mix the almond milk and maple syrup together, then add to dry ingredients.

Stir until just combined, and then fold in the blueberries.

Pour it all into the baking dish--don't worry if it looks a bit soupy.

Bake at 350 for around 40 minutes or so, and this is what you get. 

A yummy snack.

Warm with almond milk.

Along with the cooler weather comes my desire for comfort foods, and this one tops my list of favorites. I like to eat it warm with some almond milk for breakfast, I can have it cold as quick snack, and it makes a yummy dessert when topped with vanilla coconut milk ice cream.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts

I saw this recipe on the Food Network website: Truffle Tarts with Raspberries. The picture looked so deliciously tempting, but I wasn't thrilled with the idea of using Oreos or chocolate wafer cookies, due to the gluten and other ingredients I try to avoid in processed foods. So, I did a little experimenting, trying to come up with a healthier version. They came out pretty good, so I thought I'd share my results. I think this recipe could be improved. Maybe next time I'll try using walnuts instead of toasted pecans.

If you're lucky enough to have individual loose-bottom or springform tart pans, now is a great opportunity to use them. Otherwise, cut strips of parchment paper to line the cavities of a standard cupcake pan like this:

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts

For the crust:

3 cups pecans (I toasted mine)

3/4 cup pitted dates, roughly chopped

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 TBSP cocoa powder

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (more or less to taste)

Toast pecans on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven if desired.

Pit and chop dates.

(Sorry, the photo of the chopped dates came out too blurry to use)

Process pecans, salt, and cocoa powder in food processor until mixed into a coarse powder. Add dates and vanilla and process until well mixed.

Evenly divide and press mixture into the cups of muffin pan. Now, the reason I use frozen raspberries is because they're easier to handle and you can crumble them into small pieces. Place about a teaspoon of crumbled frozen raspberries in the bottom of each tart shell. You can use more or less to suit your own taste, or try something else like toasted shredded coconut, or add nothing.

Chocolate Truffle filling:

1 cup coconut milk

16 oz good-quality bittersweet chocolate (go for the best you can find, at least 60%)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Melt chocolate using your method of choice (microwave, double boiler). Add coconut milk and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth then allow to cool to room temperature. Place in mixer bowl and beat at medium speed until it thickens and becomes light in color. It will go from this:

To this:

Handy tip: Place a food storage bag/plastic disposable piping bag inside a tumbler to fill it with the ganache.

Then cut off the tip and squeeze the filling into the tart shells, completely covering the raspberries.

Smooth the tops with a spatula, and then refrigerate for 2 hours. They will come out of the pan easily thanks to the parchment paper strips.

Here's a shot of the inside. Mmmm, raspberries.