Truffle Shuffle

Going a little or a lot raw doesn’t mean you can never eat chocolate or desserts ever again – far from it in fact! The brilliant thing about raw food is that you get to eat desserts that aren’t laden with processed sugar, empty calories, antibiotic and hormone-residue milk AND the feel great for it! Eating desserts and choccies has always been associated with guilt…tucking into that box of Milk Tray in the knowledge that “you really shouldn’t”. But what if you really should? What if you could eat desserts that actually possess health-giving properties without the guilt factor? 

I made these chocolate truffles to take to my friends house to thank her for letting me stay on New Years Eve. As you can see they look amazing and make for a lovely gift. If you’ve have never heard of raw chocolate you may want to read this which will give you the low down on it’s fantastic properties. At the beginning of my journey, it was so exciting to discover that I could still have chocolate while eating a raw diet. However, I have recently cut cacao out of my diet for the time being as although it contains extremely high levels of antioxidants which are very beneficial, cacao is still a stimulant which can overtax the adrenal glands.

To sweeten desserts I normally use agave nectar (ah-ga-vay) nectar, (a natural sweetener extracted from the agave plant in Southern Mexico – also the plant from which Tequila is made), however because cancer thrives on sugar which although a lot healthier, agave does eventually convert to, I am also excluding this from my diet for now.

Instead, I am using Stevia which is a natural sweetener shown to have absolutely no effect on blood sugar levels whatsoever. It is 30 times sweeter than normal sugar and you only need the tiniest bit. If you have cancer, diabetes or any blood sugar problems, I would suggest that you look at using Stevia instead of honey, agave, yacon syrup or any other sweetener as ultimately this is safer for your body and its’ current health issues. The only drawback of stevia is that it doesn’t have the same gloopy consistency as agave or honey for example so I’m having fun experimenting at the moment. 

So I am using carob and stevia in the below recipe but if you wish to use agave and cacao, go right ahead. You’ll just need to taste-test as you go to make sure it’s sweet enough. I made a fruit and nut combo which is perfect for nibbling on when you want something chocolatey. I used gojis and mulberries for my fruit which I really like as they give a chewy consistency. Feel free to use any nuts you want and add in coconut chips, raisins, sultanas, dried apricots or any dried fruit you have in your cupboards.

Polly’s Fruit and Nut Slice

Chocolate Mixture

• 1/2 cup melted coconut butter
• 1/2 cup carob or cacao powder
• 1 tsp stevia or 1-2 tbl agave
• 1 tsp mesquite (optional)

Optional

• Handful goji berries
• Handful mulberries
• 7 brazil nuts, sliced

Combine all chocolate ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Remove the food processor blade, scraping any excess from the blade into the food processor bowl so as not to waste any. Fold in fruits and nuts of your choice. Line a small baking dish with plastic wrap for easy extraction when set. Pour in the chocolate and place in the fridge until set. When ready to eat just break into chunks as in the picture above. Keep stored in the fridge.

I made a second batch and added 2 handfuls of hemp seeds and a handful of cancer-busting apricot kernels. (My New Year’s Resolution is to eat more apricot kernels and so should yours be if you have cancer.)

xxx

Tagged as: apricot kernels, chocolate, desserts, recipes