Truffles are always a treat – packing them with healthy ingredients, that you cannot taste – makes them an even better treat!
I promise that once you make and try these you will be astonished at how delicious they are, and you will want to have another… and perhaps another! This recipe is sugar-free, but you can use chocolate that has a slight sugar content, like 70% or above dark couverture. They are also dairy-free, so good for vegans or those with a lactose intolerance.
The ‘hidden’ ingredient is Super-Food Organic Beetroot powder. Once mixed into your silken ganache truffle mixture, the flavor of the dark cocoa and the few drops of Rose & Geranium essential oils (one that can be ingested!!!) will overpower the flavor of the beetroot powder completely – making this addition completely secret! So… this is a fabulous recipe to make for your kids! My 8-year-old son – who I must confess, has a very sweet tooth like most kids – asks me to make these over and over. I seem to have a constant supply of these truffles in my fridge. He does not know that there is beetroot powder in them, because he absolutely hates eating beets prepared any normal way, but he calls them ‘healthy chocolates’. His request goes like this, ‘Mom, please can I have a healthy chocolate?’… if I do not have any available, he insists I make more. This I do not mind because they are so quick to make and I know that when he eats them, he is getting a treat with so much goodness packed into it. AND… might I add here that there are so many people who don’t enjoy eating beetroots – so these are a win for them… getting the benefits of beets without the pain of eating them… but why Beetroot?
Beetroots are packed with essential goodness. We all know the importance of getting our greens in, but our yellows, reds, oranges and purples are just as important. Every color of our rainbow veg have separate health benefits… and so we need to consume some of all of them right!?
Just a few health benefits of the Beets are:
Help keep Blood Pressure in check, may help fight inflammation, may improve digestive health, may support brain health, improve athletic performance, may even help you lose weight, and potentially have anti-cancer properties.
These beautiful bright deep red beets contain protein, fiber, Vit C & B6, folate, magnesium, potassium, manganese and iron… to name a few.
So YES – the beet is packed with healthy goodness – so that is why I use it in concentrated super-food powder form in my delicious silken truffles.
Rose & Geranium Essential Oil:
I use an essential oil called ‘Ubuntu Africa’ … it’s a beautiful South African brand and this particular blend is safe for ingestion – in small quantities of course – it is very strong. I only use one or two drops in my truffle mixture – more will make it too strong and too perfumed. Balance is key!
Besides the fact that dark chocolate is a healthy food, the other healthy ingredient in this recipe is Coconut Cream… making it dairy free. Of course, you can substitute this for dairy cream if you so desire – its all up to you. The reason I use Coconut Cream is because I really wish to pack these truffles with as much goodness as possible – and coconut cream is relatively high in fiber, and a rich source of vitamins and essential minerals.
The chocolate I use in this recipe is Callebaut Sugar-free Belgian couverture. The replacement sweetener in this chocolate is maltitol. It is very high-quality chocolate and tastes exactly the same as its relative – sugared couverture chocolate. If you cannot get your hands on this beautiful sugar-free product or don’t wish to – you can use any dark couverture chocolate with a cocoa percentage higher than 70%. Please do not use compound chocolate or any chocolate that has vegetable oil in it like palm oil – only get chocolate where the fat is pure cocoa butter. If you use an inferior chocolate, you are completely defeating the point of this ‘healthy’ recipe and unfortunately, we can then no longer be friends. So… with all that said- lets get on with the recipe.
Recipe:
Yields approximately 20 truffles (depending on your rolled size)
Prep time: 10 to 15 mins for the truffle mixture
Rolling time: impossible to say- depends on how fast you wish to work ; )
Prep time for chocolate presentation decor: approximately 30 mins
For the truffle mixture:
½ cup organic coconut cream
1 ½ cups sugar-free dark couverture chocolate (or above 70% dark) chopped fine
1 – 2 drops Rose & Geranium Oil (one that can be ingested!)
1 heaped tablespoon of organic Beetroot super-food powder (sieved)
½ cup cocoa powder (for rolling and dusting at the end)
For the chocolate decoration: Half Pipe Lattice ‘Rib-cage’
½ cup dark sugar-free couverture chocolate
1 small piping bag or paper cone for piping chocolate
I length of PVC pipe or a small rolling pin or tube
1 piece of acetate plastic – big enough to wrap around your pipe
A sticker or sticky tape to hold your acetate in place around your pipe / tube.
Directions for truffle mixture:
Place your coconut cream in a medium size bowl and heat it up – do not boil. Once warm add your chocolate and stir. Heat the coconut cream up slowly (in increments of 30 seconds in the microwave) again if necessary, until your chocolate has melted into your coconut cream and formed a beautiful silken creamy texture.
Add your beetroot powder (which has been well sieved) and stir until perfectly combined.
Add 1 to 2 drops of Rose & Geranium oil and stir into your mixture very well.
Cover your bowl and place your mixture into the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Once ready, using a teaspoon or melon scooper, scoop enough out to make your desired size truffle and press into a ball shape with your fingertips – it does not have to be perfect here. Now dump it in your cup of cocoa powder – coat it and then roll your truffle into a perfect round ball. Dump the perfect truffle back into the cocoa powder for a second coating and then place it onto a flat surface, Repeat this lovely process with the rest of your mixture.
Directions for the presentation chocolate decoration: Chocolate Half-pipe Rib-cage
(PLEASE WATCH VIDEO FOR VISUAL ON THIS)
Wrap your acetate paper around your length of pipe – not too tight or loose.
Place it on to a piece of parchment paper on your work surface.
Melt your chocolate making sure you have brought it into perfect temper. Please watch a video on how to do this if you are not sure how to make perfectly tempered chocolate – 31 degrees Celsius.
Pour your tempered chocolate into a piping bag. Snip a tiny hole off the end of your piping bag and then slowly begin working your chocolate over your length of pipe in a back and forth and zig-zag motion. Make sure you distribute your chocolate as evenly as possible and don’t leave gaps where it will be too thin. This could cause it to break when its set and being detached. Please watch the video to see how to do this.
Once set on your work surface, carefully move it into your fridge so that the chocolate can set completely and contract. This should take about 10 to 20 minutes in your fridge.
Once it is properly set, remove it from your fridge and gently slide your acetate off your tube or pipe. Then gently coax the acetate plastic away from your chocolate creation.
Using a small dot of chocolate, stick your chocolate decoration to your plate or presentation dish and then place your truffles inside the half pipe rib-cage. Lastly – with or without the chocolate decoration – ENJOY!!!!
To check out some Chocolate Art Videos please click HERE