My daughter Jenna made this chocolatey fruit and nut concoction a few weeks ago and I can't tell you how deliciously moreish it was!! 

So I obviously had to make a batch myself!

We chocolate lovers can delight in the knowledge that good quality high cocoa solids chocolate is incredibly good for us! It contains antioxidants with heart protective qualities, phenylethylamine, an amphetamine like compound which acts as a natural mood enhancer along with magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and B vitamins. 
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All of that considered, dark chocolate just doesn't have the same creamy mouthfeel as milk chocolate, even though most of us are aware that milk chocolate doesn't have any of the benefits of dark chocolate and has lots of refined sugar!
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So this recipe, adapted from The New Vegan by Aine Carlin, one of my favourite vegan authors actually manages to combine all the health benefits of dark chocolate with a lovely texture and creamy mouthfeel, due to one of my favourite ingredients....tahini!

Tahini is made from sesame seeds, its packed with calcium and magnesium and its alkaline so easy for the body to absorb. It's so versatile and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.
We literally use it every day!!
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The other healthy ingredients in this delightful sweet are hazelnuts, goji berries and apricots, coconut oil and a good pinch of Himalyan sea salt.

With thoughts turning to Christmas, this could be made quite festive with the addition of cranberries and a teaspoon of mixed spice or cinnamon and maybe some orange zest! It really is good enough to give as a gift.

I will most definitely be making this again before Christmas.

It is perfect with an after dinner coffee or in fact any time you happen to pass the fridge!
It will keep happily for a fortnight in aforementioned fridge but not in our house! It's literally gone in a few days max!!

So here is the recipe.....

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE SLICE

Ingredients
100g bar of dark chocolate
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup or brown rice syrup
large pinch of himalyan sea salt
30 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
30g apricots, raisins or cranberries
1 tablespoon goji berries(optional)
cocoa powder for dusting

Method

1. Break the chocolate into squares and put in a small saucepan with the coconut oil. Let the chocolate melt slowly over a low heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
2. Add the tahini, maple syrup and salt. Mix together.
3. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a moderate oven for 10 minutes or so.
4. Cool and remove the skins by rubbing them, they should come off easily, then chop them roughly.
5. Add the hazelnuts and dried fruit to the melted chocolate and fold in to disperse evenly.
6. Line a medium loaf tin with baking parchment and pour in the chocolate mixture.
7. Refrigerate for at least a few hours to firm up or ideally overnight. At a push you can put it in the freezer for an hour!
8. Lift the chocolate out of the tin and cut it into sticks, slices or squares.
9. Dust with cocoa powder 
10. Enjoy!

I've been rather busy trying out new recipes. I had my lovely juicing buddies over for dinner with a few dietary restrictions between them,! Gluten, nuts, fish, lentils and beans to name a few! Considering I don't eat meat or dairy that presented a bit of a challenge! 
Anyway I put on a delicious tapas spread and for dessert I made these absolutely delicious, I'm talking SERIOUSLY OMG DELICIOUS totally raw caramel slice.without any nuts!

The original recipe was from the lovely folks over at Food Matters, which I adapted slightly!

They are extremely healthy and packed full of incredibly nutritious ingredients, including dates, tahini, maple syrup, raw cacao, coconut oil and buckwheat, my genius alternative to nuts!


Some of you may be unfamiliar with buckwheat which is a gluten free grain, containing all 8 essential amino acids.a great source of complete protein.  Its contains fibre, magnesium and high levels of rutin and quercetin, which strengthen the blood vessels, lower cholesterol and blood pressure and enhance the action of Vitamin C. 


The other ingredients are all nutritional superstars, which I have mentioned in various other posts so a quick summary will suffice!

• Dates are just fabulous and although deliciously sweet and fairly high in sugar they are also packed with fibre, protein, vitamins and antioxidants. Both fibre and protein slow the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the blood so has a much lower effect on your blood sugar levels, which is exactly what we are aiming for in the health stakes.

• Tahini is a fantastic source of calcium and magnesium and its alkaline so great for strong bones, a much better source than dairy! It also has fibre, protein and good fats. Its made from sesame seeds, another of my favourite ingredients.

• Raw Cacao is the best source of antioxidants on the planet and will boost your mood, provide you with magnesium, iron and a multitude of other nutritional goodies!

• Coconut Oil is antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial, immune boosting, metabolism boosting and supports every body system including your brain and digestion. Its a miracle in a jar, what more can I say.

You can use almonds instead of the buckwheat and just melt some dark chocolate with a tablespoon of coconut oil for the topping, if you don't have raw cacao. You can also use cocoa powder instead in the base but you lose all the associated health benefits and it won't be raw!

These keep really well in the freezer and are a fantastic treat when sugar cravings hit!

So without further ado here is the recipe.

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RAW CARAMEL SLICE

Base
3/4 cup buckwheat or almonds
3/4 cup medjool or deglet noor dates (pitted)
1/4 cup raw cacao powder

Simply put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until well combined. When you pinch a piece it should stick together. If its not holding then add a teaspoon of warm water. Line a square baking tin with clingfilm, to make it easier to get out of the tin. Press the mixture evenly into the tin. A spoon dipped in hot water is a good way to smooth the base down.
Put it in the freezer.

Caramel
1 cup of medjool dates
1/2 cup coconut oil melted
4 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
good pinch of Himalyan sea salt

Process in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Pour over the base layer and put it back into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Top Layer 
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup raw cacao

Put all the ingredients into a glass bowl  simmering  over a pan of boiling water and stir until melted and well combined. Pour over the caramel and put back in the freezer until set.
Cut into small squares and keep in a covered container in the freezer.
Remove 5 minutes before serving.

         

I'm sharing the recipe for the most delicious, decadent, chocolatey, gooey, fudgey, chocolate cake and its vegan, so egg and dairy free! 
We had this cake, along with countless other delicious sweet treats at the Vegan Retreat and I will get around to sharing more of the recipes, as I try them out!

I can't pretend its healthy but hey we all need a treat every now and then and this cake fits the bill brilliantly and it is a celebration cake after all!

A perfect way to impress your family and friends with a fabulous home made cake, which I'm sure if you try it, will become your go to recipe for a celebration cake!


This recipe makes a large cake and it's very rich, and will keep for around 5 days in a covered tin, though I seriously doubt anyone would have the willpower to resist a second slice of this so be warned, it's seriously moreish!!


Ingredients 
1 large cake (10 to 12 slices)

225g white flour
2 tablespoons chickpea flour (gram flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
80g cocoa powder
300g dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
375ml hot water
75g non dairy spread or coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

Chocolate Icing
150g dark chocolate
75g coconut oil
50g light brown sugar
60 ml cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Line the bottom of a 20cm round springform loose bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper. This is very important since the mix is quite wet, you don't want it to leak!
3. Sift the plain flour, bicarb of soda, salt, instant coffee and cocoa into a large bowl and mix together.
4. In a separate glass bowl, add the sugar, chickpea flour, hot water, non dairy spread, coconut oil and vinegar. My water wasn't quite hot enough to melt the spread so I just put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stirred until it melted.
5. Gradually stir the melted mixture into the dry ingredients, adding a little at a time, then pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. It's really important not to open the oven before the 45 minutes is up or your cake may sink!
6. While the cake is baking you can get on with the icing. 
7. Put all of the ingredients, except the chocolate into a glass bowl, over a pan of simmering water, stirring until it has all dissolved. Then turn off the heat, add the chocolate and stir until melted and the icing is nice and glossy.
8. Check your cake after 45 minutes by inserting a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean and the cake is coming away from the edges of the tin, then your cake is ready. This is a fudgey cake and you don't want to over bake it.
9. Transfer the tin to a wire rack and let it cool in the tin.
10. Give your icing a good stir and check its nice and thick but not clumpy. Pour it over the cooled cake and use a spatula to ease it over the edges.
11. Decorate with chopped nuts, orange zest, edible flowers or chocolate curls.
12. I used mini eggs since it's Easter. I am however aware that these are not vegan but the cake is, so choose your decorations accordingly!

I've had a lovely week, it was my birthday and I was spoilt rotten with flowers, chocolate and Prosecco, three of my favourite things!
I have to admit the after effects of too much chocolate and wine are not great but sometimes worth it!  

So I thought I'd share one of my favourite healthy chocolate truffle recipes. These truffles are delicious, pretty much free of everything bad for you, incredibly quick and easy to make. In fact they are so delicious it's hard to believe they are packed full of healthy ingredients.
They are a perfect wee sweet treat to end a meal, and make a fabulous last minute Christmas gift for a health conscious friend.!

These truffles are vegan so dairy free, contain no saturated fat or added sugar.  All the sweetness comes from the dates and coconut, both natural ingredients with health benefits.

I love dates, they are deliciously sweet and although they are fairly high in sugar, they more than make up for it with the dazzling array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre, supporting health on so many levels.
The walnuts and sunflower seeds add protein, fibre, minerals and omega 3 fats so these truffles can definitely be enjoyed guilt free!

Medjool dates are the king of dates and are sweet, caramelly and moist and are always my first choice. Deglet Nour Dates are also delicious. Lidl are selling them for £1 a bag just now and they are also pitted which saves you precious time!  It's well worth having a few bags on standby. Some of the dates are really quite dry and need to be soaked before you can use them and they are never sweet or sticky enough, don't buy them!
You really need a food processor to make these. The dates need to be blitzed to a paste, although I guess at a push you could use a hand blender. Dates are so sticky though you would have to do it in batches and blitz the nuts and seeds first. Always make sure there are no stones in your dates, that could wreck your processor. Another point to note, for those of you lucky enough to own a Vitamix, don't use it for dates! They are just too sticky and there was a horrible burning smell from mine when I tried it
You have been warned!
If you have any sweet superfood powders like lacuma or maca, you can add a spoonful to up the health benefits even more. Chia seeds are also a good addition!
These truffles are best kept in the fridge to firm them up. I'm not too sure how long they will keep, ours are always scoffed within a few days, but I guess they would be fine for a week or so!
 
Preparation: 30 minutes
Makes: 20  bite size truffles
 
Ingredients

• 240g  pitted dates, Medjool or Deglet Nour
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder plus more for coating the truffles
• 4 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 50g sunflower seeds (if you don't have sunflower seeds just double the quantity of nuts)
• 50g walnuts or any other kind of nuts

 
Method

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until well mixed
2. Take spoonfuls of the mixture and shape into bite size balls.
3. Coat the balls in cocoa powder or desiccated coconut
4. Put in the fridge to firm up for an hour or so
5. And enjoy :)

.                         ......your health in your hands......