Friday, August 30, 2013

Treat me: Chocolate prune truffles

My father loved chocolate of all kinds, but most of all the dark, rich, expensive sort. The first Father's Day after he died I found myself in a posh chocolate shop trying to decide what to buy him. I was just about to make my selection before I remembered - there was no dad to buy them for. Even now I find myself looking at books or recipes and thinking, 'Dad would love this'. I was thinking about his love of chocolate and dried fruit when I started tinkering with these truffles.


Chocolate Prune Truffles
These are child's play to make - providing you have a child who likes supervised play that involves a food processor - and virtuous enough for the most health-conscious dad while tasting incredibly indulgent. Forget about your prune phobia and make them, now.

200g pitted prunes
100g ground almonds
2 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1 Tbsp honey
50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped, plus 150g dark chocolate for dipping

Line a shallow baking dish or similar with baking paper and set aside.
Put the prunes in a food processor and whiz to a coarse paste. Add the ground almonds, cocoa, vanilla and honey and whiz again, then pulse in the 50g chocolate.
Take small teaspoon-sized blobs of the mixture and roll into balls. Put them on the prepared tray and put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes (longer, if you need to).
Carefully melt the 150g dark chocolate - a double-boiler arrangement is the safest option, unless you have a microwave - then dip the balls into it. Leave to set, then store in an airtight container in a cool place. Makes 24 small balls (allowing for a reasonable amount of sampling during the making process).


If you're really not sure about chocolate and prunes, you could always check out the truffles other bloggers have been making for August's We Should Cocoa challenge. Guest host Elizabeth and challenge creator Choclette have kindly let me slot this recipe in at the last minute - and from a quick look at some of the others, it's in very good company.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and happy Father's Day for Sunday to Antipodean dads everywhere.

12 comments:

  1. Great minds think alike. I just made some chocolate and prune brownies. They were fudgey and glorious. I love your truffles too!

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  2. Oh wow, love these and really associate with your thoughts about your Dad. With me it's books, we used to recommend books to each other and I often think Dad would have liked that book. He loved food too, especially seafood but cakes and desserts too. Hugs

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  3. I was surprised on the weekend to look at the chocolates and suggest to my mum I buy dad some and she said he has gone off chocolates - it makes me quite sad as we always bought him chocolates as kids - nice for you to remember your dad with these chocolates - they look delicious

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    1. Hmmm, maybe it's a temporary thing. You could always try buying some and 'helping' him eat them?

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  4. chocolate and prune... an amazing combo... these look very nice x

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  5. These sound totally delicious and guilt free is good too. Might it be worth asking Elizabeth if they could be included in this month's We Should Cocoa? I'm sure she wouldn't mind and they fit the bill beautifully.

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  6. I love the combo of prunes and chocolate. I need to try these. I think there would be more than a small amount of sampling going on though - I'd be lucky to end up with a dozen finished truffles!!

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    1. Well, it was a close-run thing, but a little goes a long way!

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  7. ooooh... when i saw "choclate prune truffles" i though, i have to post mine soon! but yours are fancier than mine.... don't prunes go so well with chocolate?

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  8. Hi Lucy, Took these beauties to a dinner party last night and after plenty of taste testing they were gobbled up. Such a fab and simple recipe. Can always rely on you for that twist of genius. Thanks for sharing! x

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