Sunday, May 2, 2010

I'm posting a recipe!

That's right! I've decided to post a recipe here on my blog, aside from the usual rants about design, jewellery and joblessness.

I did try starting up a food blog over a year ago and although I was excited about it at first, reality quickly sunk in that I kind of sucked at it! There are so many talented food Bloggers out there, that I just didn't feel I could successfully join the ranks and keep plugging away at it long term. So, I gave up on my food blog only after a few months, but I still love trying out new recipes and eating delicious food and of course, commenting on other Blogger's food blogs.

Here is the first official (sweet!) recipe on Keep it Simple: Walnut Fudge Truffles.


I love my desserts and I love my chocolate. What I don't enjoy are my wide Mediterranean hips - the first place I tend to gain weight and the last place I tend to lose the weight.

This recipe for chocolate truffles is taken from a fantastic cookbook called: Carb-Conscious Vegetarian by Robin Robertson. I've been creating recipes from this cookbook for the past 4 months and I have enjoyed every one of them. I've also managed to shed about 13 lbs in that time span yet have not deprived myself of fantastic food and desserts!

I've made these truffles before and loved the intense cocoa flavour combined with the buttery, creamy texture. Hard to believe these truffles are low-carb. And they are made with prunes...prunes! They were so amazingly good and were consumed so quickly that I forgot to snap a photo of them. The illustration I've posted does not do these justice.

Walnut Fudge Truffles (taken from Carb-Conscious Vegetarian by Robin Robertson)

1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/3 cup pitted dried prunes
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp stevia, or to taste (I used about 2 tbs agave and was happy with the results)
4 tablespoons non-hydrogentated, trans-free margarine, at room temperature
(I used Earth Balance which is suitable for a vegan diet)
Ground toasted walnuts and unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling truffles onto

  • In a food processor, finely grind the walnuts and the dried prunes.
  • Add the cocoa, stevia, and margarine; process until well blended. (Note: If you prefer a nuttier texture in the truffle, add the walnuts towards the end of the blending process to maintain a coarser textured mixture.)
  • Shape the mixture into 1" balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
  • Consume as is, or to make them all fancy and pretty you can roll the truffles in the ground walnuts or cocoa, or a combination of each. (I loved them with the bitter cocoa on the outside).
  • Cover and refrigerate until firm and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Makes 12

Extra notes about recipe:

Variation: You can substitute butter for the margarine


The "dough" will be quite soft when it first comes out of the food processor, but it should roll up just fine and then firm up nicely in the refrigerator.

For a sweeter, firmer truffle, you can replace the dried prunes with dates. Keep in mind that dates are higher in carbs, because of their high natural sugar content.