I’ve been good for a while so I think it’s time for a little indulgence, guys! A while ago a friend challenged me to make a vegan version of Ferrero Rocher truffles. I am a big fan of both chocolate and hazelnuts so my hand really didn’t need much twisting. As it turned out, these were quite simple to make and they went down a storm with everybody – they are a perfect accompaniment to an afternoon espresso, which is something of a ritual in our house.
Be warned though, these truffles are not the ‘healthy’, sweet but slimming kind of dessert – there are no dates, raw cacao powder or coconut oil in sight, sorry! These puppies are based on two simple components: quality (70% cacao) dark chocolate and 100% hazelnut butter. I make nut butter myself from hazelnuts in my food processor (here is how) but you can definitely buy it in a health food store too. I make mine out of roasted hazelnuts, which makes the butter more potent and fragrant so, if you are buying yours, I would encourage you to go for roasted nut butter as opposed to the raw kind. So what we have is chocolate hazelnut ganache as a base, which is rolled into truffles around a single roasted hazelnut and then rolled in finely chopped hazelnuts. It couldn’t be easier! Six ingredients, slightly messy hands and you have rolled yourself little bites of chocolatey and hazelnutty heaven!
