Chocolate-free, Dairy-free Carob truffles!

Have you heard of DietDessertnDogs, or Affairs of Living? No? Do you have multiple intolerances or allergies? Go.  DDD (as I’ll call it), specializes in vegan, anti-candida (sugar free), whole foods recipes, and AoL features paleo-type, grain free, allergen-free recipes. Both are wonderful.  Both, every month, feature an “SOS” (savoury or sweet), kitchen challenge.  They select a feature ingredient, and invite everyone to submit their recipes. 

This month,  the feature ingredient is carob.

So… what is carob? That odd fad that swept through in the 80s, as a replacement for what was thought to be the ‘bad’ chocolate?   What, the heck is it? (check here for an answer).

When I first had to cut out a bunch of foods, chocolate was on the list.  Unfortunately, I still wanted stuff like chocolate truffles.  Only, without chocolate and without sugar and without dairy- all things I also can’t have.  So… I started hunting around for ideas.  I’d just finished reading the beautiful entry on Brigadeiros by Elissa from 17andBaking. I almost jumped into the photos and bit my screen.  The flavours she thought of were unique- all I wanted to do was bite into one of my own! I thought, I can do this too. So I did. So here it is. Chocolate free, Dairy free, sugar free Brigadeiros- with carob.

Brigadeiros

Note: experiment with flavourings, check out the ones Elissa uses or concoct your own. If you use carob powder, remember it has a pretty distinct flavour, and may match some flavours better than others.  These little truffles are very dense, but have a great velvet texture and deep flavour.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup carob powder
• 2 tbsp honey or agave nectar
• 1/3 cup coconut cream (the solid mass that coagulates at the top of coconut milk containers)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (or any other extract) (i love this so I use lots, you may want to start with 1/8 or 1/4 tsp, taste, see if you like it first)
• pinch salt

Directions

1. Put carob powder (or cocoa if you prefer) in sauce pan, and mix thoroughly with coconut cream over medium-low heat.
2. Add honey, salt and flavourings.
3. Mix until everything has melted together. Shape into one ‘blob’
4. Put warm mixture in a fine strainer over a bowl to let excess fat drain out, if you find it hasn’t totally emulsified.
5. When mixture has cooled, with small spoons scoop out portions the size of a grape and roll in your palms to get a sphere shape.  You may wish to roll in additional garnishes like coconut, chopped almonds, etc.
6.   If you find that your mixture is not solid enough even when cooled, gently re-melt it and add a tablespoon of melted cold pressed coconut oil, mix thoroughly.  When it cools it will make the truffles more solid.

Enjoy!