Christmas Recipe: Vegan Brandy Fudge Truffles

 This recipe doesn't need a massive introduction, it's just the joy of the Christmas rum ball, made healthy! I honestly think these are easier than the crushed biscuit variety and arguably more delicious. I used brandy flavoured essence because I prefer it to rum but the traditional flavour would work just as well, or you could use vanilla if the boozy flavour isn't your thing! The finished sweet is soft and fudgy and chocolatey and safe for all your vegan and gluten-free friends to chow down on.

sorry about the sad photo, they got eaten pretty quick!

2 cups pitted dates, soaked in water overnight, and drained
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon brandy flavoured essence
dessicated coconut for rolling

If you have a good quality blender, then this is easy - blitz all the ingredients until smooth.  If, like me, you aren't blessed with the disposable income a good blender requires, this recipe is still totally do-able. Chop the dates into four pieces each, place in a mixing bowl with the melted coconut oil and mash and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the cocoa powder gradually and keep mixing so there are no dry lumps. The more you stir the smoother it will get, I promise.
 Use a teaspoon to measure out each truffle then roll in dessicated coconut until it's able to hold its own shape.
Refrigerate for an hour before serving, and keep in the fridge if it's a warm day.

Gluten Free, Vegan Chocolatey Christmassy Tifle!!

December has arrived!  Sure, my Christmas tree has been up for three weeks already, and I've already had a Christmas party, but now we've hit that final month on the calendar, I feel like I can really let my Christmas Freak Flag fly! I don't know how I became such a Christmas geek, but if four consecutive holiday seasons working in retail can't jade me, I don't think anything ever will!
Being English-born, I have a complex idea of what the spirit of Christmas really is.  Yes, I think of barbecues, pavlovas and cold beers as essentials of the big day, but I still have fond, if distant, memories, of the English school Christmas lunch, in which we all sat around long tables in the dining hall and ate turkey and overcooked brussels sprouts inbetween snowman-building competitions. And while I don't know yet if a box of Scorched Almonds is more "Christmassy" than a Terry's Chocolate Orange, I do know that the magic of Christmas and the peace of a New Zealand summer are a pretty damn good fit!

At the "Friendmas" dinner I recently hosted, I asked everyone to bring along their must-have Christmas dish in the hopes of a bountiful Christmas-themed potluck, and to find out which foods bring out the most nostalgia. I was really excited to see what everyone would bring until I realised that I too would have to make a decision about what to make!  Ok, what Christmas dish can I not live without? From the title of this post, you'd assume the answer is "trifle" but it's not that simple!
After careful consideration, I decided the two things that make Christmas day different to every other are 1) socially acceptable day-drinking and 2) desserts all damn day.  And since I'm both unwilling to just serve up booze at a dinner party and personally living alcohol-free right now, I had to settle for dessert (poor me!).  At home, we've never had a "standby" or "must have" Christmas dessert. Instead we rotate between Christmas pudding (the brandy-soaked, ablaze kind), berry-filled pavlova or some kind of cake+cream/custard combo, if not a combination of all of the above.  It's worth mentioning that this is after eating pancakes for breakfast and a half-box each of Rose's chocolates for lunch! Well, if you can't on Christmas day, when can you?
Instead of trying to pick one dessert to serve, I found the answer in trifle - basically all the desserts you can think of, artfully piled on top of one another. It hits all the right flavour notes - chocolate, booze, berries, plus all those wintry-warm spices - while being gluten-free, (mostly) alcohol-free, and suitable for vegans. Winning!