I’m very aware that chocolate will be a strong theme this month with Easter coming up, so I thought why not jump on that bandwagon and embrace it?! As you know I create a recipe working with the wonderful Percol Coffee every month so with this celebration and also Mother’s Day in mind, I wanted to produce something beautiful and rich (but still secretly healthy of course!). And that’s how these easy to make, indulgent desserts came about: Combining a nutty base with a creamy chocolate and coffee filling, topped with chocolate coated fruit and nut balls… Yum!
You can make these ahead and serve them to family and friends (or just your Mum!) and even add some berries on top for extra colour. The cacao nibs add a delicious crunchy texture but feel free to swap these for chopped nuts or even grated chocolate if you’re feeling really naughty 😉
Ingredients:
For the tart cases –
- 200g mixed nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds)
- 100g dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes then drained (I used Whitworths)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (I used LucyBee)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (I used Indigo Herbs)
For the chocolate filling –
- 1 x can coconut milk, chilled in the fridge overnight
- 4 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder (I used Bioglan)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 heaped teaspoon Percol Smooth Colombia coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon boiling water then cooled
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate balls –
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 30g dark chocolate, melted (I used Montezuma’s)
- Cacao nibs, to decorate (I used Indigo Herbs)
Get making!
- First make the tart cases: Place the nuts, dates, coconut oil and maple syrup in a blender or food processor (I use my Ninja Kitchen Auto IQ) and whizz up for a few minutes until well blended and forms a slightly sticky mixture.
- Press between 3 x loose-bottomed tart tins, using your fingers to push up the sides and on the base. (There will be some mixture leftover, keep this!) Chill in the fridge.
- Open the chilled coconut milk can and scrape out the solid part. Place in a bowl and add the other ingredients. Use an electric whisk to beat together until quite thick. Chill in the fridge until needed.
- Meanwhile use up the remaining mixture by rolling into small balls. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil and dunk the balls in. Place on greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, pop the tartlets out of the tins and onto a plate. Add 2-3 balls on top and scatter over some cacao nibs. Now enjoy straight away!
Check out my other recipes working with Percol Coffee over here 🙂