It has been at least two months ago already that I first made these truffles, and I did them several times ever since. Indeed, I did not think of posting the recipe now as it doesn’t really fit the current rhubarb and strawberry season. But as – in terms of meteorology – autumn has come back I take a chance on it nevertheless. It’s my perfect appetizer before my morning cycle in the park, because without anything to eat I would most probably faint after the first few minutes and with much more in my stomach I would not move from the spot at all.
The main ingredient of the little beauties is dates, but its true burner is raw cocoa. I have been inspired to try raw cocoa by Antje of Lifestyle in Grün – she is doing fantastic things with raw cocoa butter, cocoa powder and nibs. When Melissa and Kerryanne posted some fantastic Goji Berry Truffles on their very nice blog Happy Offerings, and when I soon after discovered Orientalische Schoko-Pistazien-Kugeln (Oriental Truffles with Cocoa and Pistachio, recipe in German language) at Sylvias beautiful blog Rock the Kitchen, I remembered some attempts in fruit & nut balls that I made many years ago but had already forgotten about. So I gave it a try again and mixed the recipes. Thanks a lot to all of you for the fine inspiration!
Here’s my recipe
Roast 2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds in a dry pan until they start to smell nicely. Take off the pan and grind with a blender. Add ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom and mix well, put aside.
Take 150 g dried dates without pit and cut them into smaller pieces with a cradle. As the dates are sticky, this works best if you mix the halves of the dates with a little bit of ground nuts before. Add 25 g ground almonds and 25 g ground hazelnuts, 2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon raw cocoa nibs and 1 tablespoon of tahini. You can treat this mixture with a blender but I get better results when I knead it with my hands (it feels good, by the way). When the mass gets to dry, add a little bit of hazelnut oil, if it get’s too sticky, add a little bit more cocoa powder and/or ground nuts.
With the palms of your hands, form little balls and roll firmly through the ground pumpkin seeds. Done!
Today’s urban shot
Today’s urban shots are about industry architecture inside and outside:
Food with a View 
Now, this is a real treat – and healthy, anyway 🙂
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Thank you! And yes, with the raw cocoa and all the different nuts it’s really healthy.
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Not really good for a great bikini shape but for heart and soul!
Auch mal was, so ganz Off-Season Kardamom ins Spiel zu bringen. Sag, woher hast du die Kakaobohnen her und wie ist das? kann man die so essen? Hach, das ist schon wieder alles zu hoch für mich 😉 aber lecker sieht es aus, schmeiß mal ‘n’ Happs rüber!
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The good thing is: raw cocoa adds such nice and rich flavors that you are really content with two of these – no need to have them all at once ;-).
Kardamom hat bei mir ja irgendwie immer Saison, weil wir sehr gern orientalisch essen. Den rohen Kakao (Pulver und ganze Bohnen) kaufe ich auf dem Markt. Man kann ihn aber auch via Internet beziehen – den, den ich benutzte zum Beispiel hier: http://www.rohkao.de/. Nibs hatte ich mal im Bioladen gekauft (die waren glaube ich von Zotter). Die ganzen Bohnen schmecken aber meiner Meinung nach intensiver, denn die Nibs sind darin sozusagen aromaschützend “verpackt”. Die Bohnen sind gar nicht kompliziert zu verarbeiten, einfach im Nussknacker knacken oder mit einem Messer zerschneiden/draufdrücken, dann zerbrechen die Bohnen in viele hübsche kleine Nibs. Die trockene Haut ist ebenfalls essbar (oder man pflückt sie heraus, je nachdem, wofür man die Nibs verwendet.
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Ich habe diese Bohnen und Nibs noch nie gesehen. Da muss ich doch wirklich mal Ausschau nach halten. Was man wohl Herzhaftes damit veranstalten kann?!
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Die sind tatsächlich sehr vielseitig, gerade auch für Herzhaftes (ich habe schon einige Experimente hinter mir, soon on the blog).
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Bin sehr sehr gespannt. Ich stelle mir da irgendwas Mexikanisches vor….
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Your date-delights look delicious! But I’ll stick with stawberries in hope of a warmer summer 😉
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Thank you! And you are abolutely right: strawberries season has to be celebrated right now.
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Those look divine! Whenever I make truffles like this they never last long 🙂
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Thanks a lot! I love the look and texture of your adorable goji truffles, they look so fine and juicy – I absolutely believe that they disappear soon after production ;-).
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Same question as Uda: Where do you buy the raw cocoa powder and nibs? Dates are my favorite on the road snacks. They do not push your blood sugar level too high and provide a long and steady energy.
I like the worn cement floor a lot! (upper left pic).
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I buy raw cocoa on the market, but you can get them online, too (I posted the link in the answer to Udas comment). I like dates a lot as well (they remember me of marzipan), I also love to use tem in savory dishes.
Yes, isn’t the floor gorgeous? Great that you mention it!
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Looks like “I’ll do it” – at least next dates’ season (I use to buy a 5 kg box every december and now it’s all gone). Thanks a lot for mentioning! Since discovering all the raw delicacies like cocoa nibs, powder and butter I restock regularly 🙂
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I love what you do with cocoa butter! By the way, I have been searching for your raw cocoa nut balls recipe to link directly to it but could not re-find it on your blog (I just remember the photo, I think it was integrated in some other (savory?) post…).
Is it fresh dates that you get in your regular december order? I know only the dried ones but I would love to taste fresh ones.
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No, it’s dried dates. I know fresh dates very well, but to be honest: I prefer the dried ones. Although fresh ones are delicious but the taste is – don’t no how to put it in the right way – kind of cooler and, of course, with less sweetness.
By the way: You’re right, my date truffle’s photo is hidden amongst a savory dish and without recipe 😉
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Hallo Claudia,
oh, was für ein tolles Rezept! Muß gleich ein wenig bei Dir schmökern. Hab mich gefreut, dass wir uns bei The Hive getroffen haben!
viele grüße! Anneli
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Liebe Anneli, das ist ja schön, dass Du vorbeischaust! Ich freue mich, dass Dir das Rezept gefällt – und prima, dass wir uns bei The Hive kennengelernt haben. Lieben Gruß zurück!
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How embarassing is it? Of course I meant “don’t know” (instead of “don’t no”).
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😉
Ah, very interesting! So it’s similar to almonds – as far as I know they have a fresh and less “sweet” taste (sweet in the sense of nut-sweet) when they are fresh, compared with the “normal” dry almonds.
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mhmmmm….
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🙂
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Wunderbar! Da der Herbst wieder eingezogen ist…. ha! Man wundert sich eh, dass überall Spargel, Rhabarber und Erdbeeren angeboten werden 🙂 Gerade hab ich irgendwo gelesen, dass sowieso keine Notwendigkeit für eine gute Bikinifigur bestünde, da im Schwimmbad eh nix los sei…
Liebe Grüße!
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Ich erwarte beim Einkauf derzeit gerade auch eher die ersten Wintergemüse und wundere mich über all das Frühlingszeug… Und Schwimmbad-Saison wird wahrscheinlich zum Unwort des Jahres ;-). Lieben Gruß zurück!
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