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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Jaffa Balls


Without intending to be overly monotonous, I wanted to share my latest rendition of the old traditional rum ball recipe, jaffa balls.

My baking of sweet things has been solely limited to chocolatey balls in recent times, as they seem to be a growing obsession with the man and son. As soon as a batch has been scoffed, I am under constant pressure to produce more (thankfully they are a cinch to throw together). If the batch runs out mid week and there is no soymilke condensed milk in the pantry, my campers are not happy at all as they have to wait until at least Saturday for their fix when I can make that next trip to the health food store.

Choc-mint balls have been a remarkable success and since they were introduced, left the standard old rum balls for dead. It led me to pondering about other types of flavours that could be used in these balls. Chocolate and peppermint has always been a favoured combination since my childhood, I would always opt for a choc-mint sweet over straight chocolate any day of the week. Not far behind would have to be chocolate and orange. Terry's chocolate orange balls and jaffas are yummy treats that immediately spring to mind from that genre.

And so with yet another single ingredient substitution, jaffa balls were born! A simple change from peppermint to orange essense gave these balls exactly the orangey touch they needed. Of course, they were declared to be the new favourites although I will be interested to see if they are still living up to their current hype a few batches down the track!

Jaffa balls

250g packet Arnott's Nice biscuits
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
330g can Soymilke soy condensed milk
2 teaspoons Maharajah's Choice orange essense
Extra desiccated coconut, for coating

Process biscuits in a food processor until they become a fine powder. Add the cocoa and 1/2 cup coconut to the food processor and pulse a few times. Transfer mixture to a bowl then add the soy condensed milk and orange essense. Mix together until everything is well combined.

Place mixture in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to give it a firmer texture which makes it easier to roll the balls. If the mixture is too soft, it gets very sticky and difficult to roll properly and the balls will not hold their shape.

Put the extra coconut into a bowl. Roll spoonfuls of mixture into balls with your hands, and then coat in coconut. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

6 comments:

  1. I love these but have also got into alternative versions - one I really liked is Almond, date and cranberry truffles with almond butter - highly recommend if you want to branch out in exploring chocolatey balls

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  2. These are totally new to me, I think I'd prefer them to chocolate truffles any day.

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  3. Thanks Johanna, the truffles sound really nice and a bit healthier than the ones I have been making. I may have to make them on the sly one day...

    Thanks mangocheeks, they are dangerously moreish and that's coming from someone who isn't a sweet tooth!

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  4. Oooohhhh! I LOVE jaffa! I am gluten intolerant though, so will have to see if I can find a gluten free biscuit I can use instead.

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  5. Looks great! Can you please tell me which condensed soy milk you use?

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  6. Hi Corinne, I use a brand of soy condensed milk called Soymilke which is available from some health food shops. Online vegan stores like http://crueltyfreeshop.com.au also stock Soymilke.

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